Project Persephone
by waiting4morning
Summary: As Shepard and the crew of the Normandy prepare for the Reapers, the Illusive Man has one more ace up his sleeve to bring Shepard back under the control of Cerberus, one that Shepard thought she buried three years ago. ME3 story w/ a side of Shenko
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story is based on an incredibly vivid Mass Effect dream I had several months ago: what I remembered from the dream was really just an image and from that I built this story. The Shepard in this story is the same Shepard featured in my other stories, Comfort Food, Beyond the Horizon, Across the Bar, On My Way, Substance of Things Unseen, A Little Bit More, Out of the Night, and several Shore Leave drabbles.  
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**Update 4/9/2012: This story was written and published before ME3 came out, so it's wildly inaccurate as far as any references to in-game events. I might try to update it later to make it more in line with canon, but for now, consider it AU. :D  
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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

_End of game, Mass Effect 2_

The Illusive Man watched the space where Shepard's exulting holographic figure had disappeared. No doubt now she was walking through the ship—_his_ ship—proclaiming the news to the crew. The Illusive Man had caved to Shepard Almighty.

He inhaled one last time on his cigarette and stubbed it out. Behind him, the star pulsed blue and cold as he brought up his private communications array.

"Sir?" A voice on the other line answered promptly.

"Project Persephone, what is your status?"

"Green, sir. "

"Good. Initiate the mission, with one caveat: if Shepard can't be subdued, she is to be eliminated. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

He closed the call and lit another cigarette. Shepard had no idea how far he was willing to go.

**Chapter 1**

_Several months later. Post Arrival, post beginning of "ME3."_

"Describe it to me again?" Kaidan Alenko looked at her with furrowed brows, clearly trying to imagine the biotic maneuver Shepard was trying to explain.

"Vasir did this floaty thing. She jumped off the edge of the wall, did some kind of mnemonic that I can't remember because I was busy barreling into her, but she looked as she would have gone to the ground in a controlled manner. Liara did it a second later and I've seen Samara do it too. Kaidan, her control was incredible. Even after I landed on top of her in mid-air, she kept the descent almost completely under control. Next thing I know, I'm slamming into the ground and she's running off."

Kaidan looked thoughtful. "Aside from the fact that these are all asari that you saw doing this, I don't see why it shouldn't be possible for human biotics to do it too." He walked to the edge of the storage platform, glancing down. They were in the cargo bay in the _Normandy_, on a long, wide shelf used to store crates. "It would be something like a lift," he said, almost to himself, rubbing his chin. "But not quite that strong otherwise you'd go zooming off into space."

"I'm going to try it," Shepard announced, walking up beside him.

"What?" Kaidan looked startled. "No you're not. This needs to be done in a controlled environment—"

She grinned at him. "Why do you think I brought you up here? Stop me if I don't look like I'm going slow enough."

Kaidan shook his head. "I'm glad at least you gave me warning."

Shepard patted his shoulder. "I may not next time." She flared her biotics and walked to the edge of the platform. "Ready?"

Kaidan flared and nodded. "Go for it."

Shepard took a breath and jumped off the edge. He watched her fall, biotic corona streaming around her like the tail of a comet. For a split second, Kaidan thought she might have actually done it on the first try, but then he realized she was still falling too fast. He executed a quick pull, grabbing her just before she hit the deck.

She was laughing as she floated nearer to where he stood. He had to reach out a hand and pull her in as he let the field dissipate. As normal gravity resumed, she fell awkwardly into his arms, the clash of their biotic auras making every nerve in his body tingle. He felt a momentary regret as she released her biotics, making the sensation disappear, and he did the same.

"You're insane," he said fondly, his stubble rasping against her cheek.

"I have to be, otherwise I wouldn't have any fun at all," she said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Kaidan froze at the casual intimacy. They hadn't quite... resumed where they left off before the destruction of the _Normandy_. There were still things to talk about; issues to discuss. It had been better—much better—than he'd had any right to expect after Horizon, but he mostly chalked that up to the insanity of everything that had happened in the last month. She had come so close to execution... He'd have lost her all over again. Kaidan swallowed hard and held her tighter, feeling the pulse of her heart through the fabric of her BDUs.

"It's okay," she said, muffled against his collarbone. "I promise not to maim myself. At least not permanently."

Kaidan managed a grin and released her. "We could just contact Liara, you know. Wouldn't that be easier?"

Shepard shrugged. "She's busy coordinating things from her end. Asking her the specifics about a biotic maneuver seems trite compared to what's going on in the galaxy. Anyway," she combed her fingers through her hair, making a messy ponytail, "I think I know what I did wrong. I forget that with my cybernetics, I'm heavier than I think I am. I was adjusting for the weight I used to be, not what I am now."

"Going to try again?"

She nodded. "Ready?"

Shepard practiced the maneuver several more times; each time coming closer to the move she'd described—a controlled descent—but never quite hitting it. By the last time, she was sweating with the effort. She stumbled out of the pull Kaidan had rescued her from, shaking her head. "I thought I was more or less precise, but this feels like trying to do surgery with an axe."

Kaidan raised his eyebrows. "An axe?"

"I think I told you that I had already decided to join the Alliance by the time I had surgery for my implant, right?" She sat down on the platform with a sharp exhale as Kaidan nodded. It had been one of their many conversations about biotics. Shepard rubbed the back of her neck. "I made it clear to the instructors that I would be using my abilities in a combat situation, and so I was trained accordingly. Big, showy motions designed to move people and things with force. I'm a living battering ram and that's how I wanted it." She looked up at him with a smile. "You remember telling me how Rahna was supposed to reach for a glass of water biotically?"

He nodded.

"I never learned that kind of stuff. It was always 'throw this training dummy fifty feet' or 'warp that training dummy into the size of an ice cube'. Precision?" She shook her head. "I don't know the meaning of the word."

Kaidan pulled her up from her sitting position on the platform.

"What?" he said warily as she looked him with calculating expression.

"I'd bet you'd be better at it—you learned this control stuff from the get-go."

Kaidan shook his head and walked with her from the platform toward the loading elevator that led to the deck of the ship. "Later, maybe. After a workout like that, you'd be in no condition to catch me if I fell."

Shepard stopped, folding her arms over her chest. "Don't coddle me, Alenko. I can go all day if I have to. And I have."

Kaidan glanced at her. Back then whey they were... something, she'd confronted him about his tendency to be overprotective. It had led to him nearly questioning her orders in front of the crew when she'd told Joker to drop the Mako in that impossible space on Ilos. He couldn't control the feeling, the desire to protect her, but in the months following the attack on the Citadel he'd learned to not act on it._ I proved that by getting on the escape pod before seeing that she was safe_, he reminded himself.

"I'm sure you could," he said after a moment. "But _I'm _ hungry and I'm pretty sure I heard your stomach grumbling. "

As if on cue, Shepard's stomach gurgled loudly.

Kaidan bit back a grin at her scowl. "I'd rather not push it. A controlled environment is best to try out new biotic maneuvers. It's safer."

The irritation on her face faded. She walked up to him, splaying her hand on the side of his face, her thumb stroking his cheek. "I'm not going anywhere this time, Kaidan. I promise."

He nodded, throat suddenly tight, and turned his head to kiss her hand. She smiled and jerked her head back to the elevator. "Let's go. Rupert's making lasagna today."


	2. Chapter 2

**Many thanks to girlfromgraz, my intrepid and tireless beta, and to TheOddLittleTurtle for sciency tech stuff. **

**Note: I'm going to try to get chapters out faster than once a week. I want to have it out before ME3 hits the shelves.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Shepard waited, tense, beside Joker as they approached Nearog's largest moon, Cral. Nearog, a hydrogen-methane gas giant, loomed blue and cold above.

"I don't like this," Joker commented. "We're way too close to batarians in this system. You're not exactly their favorite person right now."

"I've taken care of three major problems for Aria and delivered information about that Blood Pack plot against her," Shepard said. "She owes me and she knows it. Besides, her little empire is crumbling. She's probably desperate enough to trade intel with me. At least that's what I'm counting on." She folded her hands behind her in parade rest. "After what Cerberus did to her, she doesn't have any reason to withhold information."

Joker snorted. "Cerberus isn't what I'm worried about."

Shepard couldn't argue with that. The Batalla System was home to a large batarian slave colony. One whiff of the _Normandy_ and they would find themselves under heavy fire. But Aria was here too, recovering from her ordeal at the hands of Cerberus and attempting to reclaim her faltering empire. Shepard would have to rely on the asari's lingering influence to stay the batarian's rage, at least while in the system.

"_Normandy_, you are cleared," came a smooth asari voice over the comm.

Shepard let out a breath and nodded to Joker. "Take us in… but leave the shields up."

"Aye, aye."

#

"You sure about this?" Kaidan asked as they stepped out of the airlock. Shepard stepped out beside him, hand lightly on her sidearm.

"To be honest? Not really. Aria's out for one thing: Aria. But she has intel; better eyes in this region than we do. Cerberus is moving and we need to know what they're up to."

Cral, the moon Aria was hiding out on, had a pre-existing structure from a batarian warlord's glory days. The Spectres who'd come after him had collapsed the eastern end of the complex, but the rest was still habitable. Shepard had only skimmed the computer's information on the moon—a drab, gray rock little better than an asteroid. Considering what Omega was carved out of, however, perhaps it made Aria feel at home.

"I don't know," Garrus rumbled, "I'm kinda glad she's not on Omega anymore."

Shepard chuckled. "We can arrange to get cornered by the biggest gangs on this rock for old times' sake if you like, Garrus."

"Nah, I'm good."

Kaidan looked at both of them, eyebrows raised behind his helmet's visor. "That sounds like a story."

"We'll fill you in later," Shepard said, nodding at the approaching trio of guards, led by an asari in combat armor.

"Aria wants to know your business here, Shepard," the asari said coldly as they reached Kaidan, Shepard, and Garrus.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "If she didn't want to talk to me, she wouldn't have let me land." She gestured to the door. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can leave."

The asari scowled but nodded to the turians flanking her. They dropped behind the group, assault rifles held casually. Kaidan grimaced, the back of his neck itching. Shepard, however, didn't show any evidence that the presence of the armed escorts bothered her.

They walked through narrow, dingy gray tunnels of what looked like concrete slab, the closeness of the tunnel relieved only by lights every few feet.

"Defense mechanism," Garrus muttered. Kaidan nodded. The tunnels were narrow enough that they had to walk single-file. The batarian terrorist who'd constructed this place probably built it intentionally like this—any invaders would have to go single-file and get picked off easily at the other side. Anyone fleeing would get the same treatment.

Aria held court in a large room with a window that overlooked a gray, crater pocked landscape of Cral. She was standing at the windowsill, brooding out over the view. The asari guard walked up and murmured something in Aria's ear. Aria's eyes flicked to the side. After a tense moment, during which Kaidan increased power to his hardsuit's shields, she jerked her head and the escorts left.

"Shepard," the former queen of Omega said, "seems like I only see you when you want something. I have little time to waste on Alliance thugs. What do you want this time?"

"Shepard?" A batarian guard standing in the background shifted, gripping his assault rifle. "_The_ Shepard? The Butcher of Aratoht?"

Kaidan stiffened, hand going to his sidearm. Beside him, Garrus did the same. Shepard hadn't moved, eyes locked on Aria.

Aria looked over at him, eyes narrowing. "Butt out, Grak. This is _my_ conversation."

The batarian lifted his assault rifle, sighting down it. In a blink, Aria flared her biotics, slamming the guard against the wall. He groaned, a trickle of blood oozing from his mouth.

"Anyone else care to interrupt me?" Aria glared at the rest of the assembled batarians. None of them moved. Aria turned back to Shepard's group. Though the batarians had been subdued, Kaidan caught a few gestures aimed their direction he didn't recognize but probably weren't polite.

"Cerberus," Shepard said as if there'd been no interruption. Kaidan saw Aria's lips pull back in a barely controlled snarl. "I need to know what they're doing in this region."

Aria regarded her for a moment, unmoving. "I told you once that information is a commodity, yes?" She turned and sat down in a chair, crossing her leg over the other. "You help me get Cerberus off Omega and we have a deal."

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "All right, but my first priority is the Reapers. Once they're taken care of, I'll help."

The two women faced off for a quiet moment, then Aria nodded. "I have a name for you, Shepard, overheard during my captivity: _Project Persephone_. No details, I'm afraid—they didn't talk much around me aside from taunts and the like. All I know is that is that this Project is somehow connected to you." Aria folded her arms over her chest. "The rest, you pretty much know. Cerberus is using Omega as a base of operations for their stations beyond the Omega 4 Relay. I still have a few inside people on Omega, and what I hear isn't promising. Gangs fighting each other rather than Cerberus," she shook her head. "Useless thugs. I'll forward you the latest news, but there isn't much."

Shepard nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "Thank you." She inclined her head. "Assuming the Reapers don't fry us into oblivion… I'll see you soon, Aria."

"One other thing, Shepard." The asari rose from her seat and walked with the languid grace of a cat toward Kaidan. He resisted the urge to shift on his feet, calling on his training from being a private faced with a screaming sergeant. Shepard, however, tensed as she watched Aria prowl around the Alliance marine, her eyes calculating.

"I see you took my advice after all," she said with an amused lift to her tattooed eyebrows. Shepard opened her mouth, blushed, and stayed quiet.

"Let's move out," she said, brushing past Aria.

As they reached the docking bay, Kaidan noticed Garrus chuckling to himself.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Shepard said hurriedly. "Come on." Shepard hurried to the airlock, her cheeks still stained pink. "Let's go before Aria turns her batarians loose."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I'm afraid I've never heard of it," Miranda said, a frown tugging her lips downward.

Shepard leaned her elbows on her knees. "I figured as much. That would be too easy." She sighed, scrubbing her fingers back into her hair. "Project Lazarus… Project Persephone… "

"The names aren't that unusual," Miranda pointed out. "The Illusive Man has a flair for the dramatic. Likely it refers to a weapon – perhaps something another cell was working on. I knew of many assets, but not all of them."

"I feel like there's a connection that I'm not seeing," Shepard insisted.

Miranda shrugged, looking back at the paperwork she had been working on when Shepard walked in. "I think you're caught on the word 'project', Commander. I was head of several other missions with codenames starting with Project, and none of them were related aside from the fact of my presence."

Shepard sighed. "Maybe I'm over-thinking this. Still, I wish there was something more that Aria could have told us."

"Have you learned anything that might help us from the intel she sent?"

"Not yet. Most of it, as she said, we already knew. It may be useful, though, so we'll hang onto it. Want me to forward it to your console?"

Miranda nodded. "Please. With my background, I may notice patterns that others may not."

Shepard nodded and took her leave.

Kaidan was standing at the water cooler in the mess when she exited. "Hey," he said, brightening.

"Hey yourself," Shepard said, smiling. "What are you looking at?" She stood beside him, sliding her arm around his waist, enjoying the warmth of his arm coming down around hers in response.

Kaidan nodded at Miranda's office door. "I still have difficulty thinking of that as… not yours," he chuckled. "It helps that there's no buggy systems board right next door to fiddle with, but still… memories like that are hard to rewrite."

"Memories like what?" she said, teasing, and laughed when she was rewarded with a blush across his cheeks.

"_Good_ memories, Shepard," he said, his voice growing husky as he looked down at her.

Their faces moved closer, Kaidan lifting his hand to touch her cheek.

"There's a captain's quarters for a reason," said a familiar sarcastic voice. "Just sayin'."

Joker limped into the mess out of the medical bay, tugging his hat on.

"Joker, I've waited two years for this," Shepard said with a grin. "Not even you are going to spoil my fun."

Joker grunted and slid into a chair at the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Alright then. Carry on." He stared at them.

"Um, I need to check with Garrus about something," Kaidan muttered and fled down the hall to the main battery.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and looked at Joker. "You."

"Heh," Joker grinned. "Yeah. Me."

Shepard shook her head. "Back to your post, lieutenant, before I haul you there myself."

"Aye, aye," he said, giving her a mock salute, and limped toward the elevator.

#

They arrived at the Citadel after a couple of sleep cycles. The newest member of the team, James Vega, needed armor upgrades that the _Normandy'_s armory couldn't provide.

Shepard, Vega, and Kaidan walked through the Wards, looking for the best place to shop. It seemed a little fuller than she was used to seeing the Citadel. But every species by now had heard of the attack on Earth. Not even the average citizen could deny the Reaper threat now. Evidently everyone figured that the Citadel was the safest place to be for the time being.

Shepard hoped that would be the case.

"Ma'am?" Vega's voice brought her up short. He gestured to a store just ahead. "That looks like the right place."

Shepard nodded. "Go ahead and start browsing. My Spectre requisition fund can cover what you need. Make sure to look for shield upgrades."

Vega straightened, just short of giving a salute and entered the store.

"What Spectre requisition fund?" Kaidan murmured in her ear.

"They owed me a lot of back pay."

Kaidan followed Vega into the store, his eyes on the displays. Shepard smiled at his barely hidden enthusiasm. He'd always loved to tinker with his hardsuit, making the settings more personalized than the default, fine tuning them to get optimal performance in conjunction with his biotics.

Shepard waited at the front of the store, idly watching the crowds. It felt strange not to be in a hardsuit right now—she'd all but lived in hers since Earth. She swallowed at the memories, still vivid when she closed her eyes. Earth survived the first onslaught of Reapers—barely. The ruin and devastation to countless cities as they were leaving was like a slug in the gut. Knowing that millions of people died and even more would if they didn't do something soon made bile rise in the back of her throat.

_One thing at a time,_ she reminded herself when worries and pressures seemed to fill the air, making it hard to breathe. _You're only one person._

To take her mind off her anxiety, she scanned the crowds, noting the healthy mix of asari, turian, salarian, and human and a scattering of elcor, volus, and hanar. There weren't as many volus—she supposed that most of them had retreated to their home worlds for safety. There were more than just military personnel among the humans too; civilians were milling around, talking, shopping, and laughing. Even with the threat of extinction hanging like a cloud over the galaxy, people were trying to have fun and live their lives the best they knew.

Shepard found herself smiling in response. This was what she had to protect—what her whole team was fighting for.

Her eyes fell on a woman standing still in the crowd, numerous people flowing around her like water around a stone in a river. She was staring at Shepard, her dark eyes intense.

Shepard felt all the breath in her body leave with one breath. Her body went rigid and her mouth dried. _This… can't be happening._

The apparition moved, walking toward Shepard with an easy grace born from years of combat training and hand-to-hand fighting.

Kaidan appeared at Shepard's side, tucking a package under his arm and looking very satisfied with himself. He saw Shepard's white face and frowned. "What's wrong?"

At that moment, the woman arrived and smiled at them both, an achingly familiar smile revealing white teeth and a hint of mischief. "Hey LT, Skipper. Been a long time."

Kaidan felt the package he'd just spent so many credits on slip from his arms to hit the floor, unnoticed.

Shepard found her voice, raspy and choked: "Ash."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kaidan's mind whirled. Noise faded into the background; he barely saw Vega come up, curious; barely heard Shepard introduce him and Ashley start a conversation, as easy as if they were all on the _Normandy_ together.

_No_, a small voice whispered in the middle of the chaos of his thoughts, _it isn't her. It _can't_ be her. _

Hardly aware of what he was doing, Kaidan reached for his sidearm and pulled it free, clicking off the safety with this thumb as he pointed it at Not Ash.

"Shepard, Vega, please stand back," he said, his voice frighteningly calm.

Shepard's eyes widened. "Kaidan, what are you doing?"

Ashley was looking at him, a small smile at the corner of her mouth. It was the same smile she wore whenever she was trying not to laugh at him because he was a senior officer. It was the same smile she'd given after Kaidan had spectacularly stuck his foot in his mouth not three-hundred yards from where they were standing now, when they'd stopped to admire the Citadel and Kaidan had admired Shepard instead, out loud.

Kaidan tore his eyes away from the smile that was on Not Ash's face and spared a glance for Shepard.

"Think about it, Shepard. This can't be Ashley. She... she…" _Died on Virmire._ The words stuck in his throat, as if the grief was fresh instead of old.

"I'll prove that it's me," Not Ash said, still with that little smile. She turned to Shepard. "Skipper, you pulled my bacon out of the fire on Eden Prime. I helped you and Alenko deal with geth, husks, and three bombs set to detonate to destroy the colony."

"That's a matter of public record," Kaidan bit out.

Not Ash nodded. "Shepard, do you remember the conversation we had in the hold the week we went to Edolus? About God and duty and…" Her eyes flicked to Kaidan. "Other things?"

Shepard nodded, looking stunned.

Not Ash turned to Kaidan, her smile widening. "I used to tease you about checking out Shepard's ass in the elevators on the Citadel."

Kaidan jerked back as if slapped. No one knew about that—she'd always made sure to joke when no other crewmembers were around.

Shepard let out a choked laugh and pulled Ashley into a hard embrace. "Ash."

Numb, Kaidan holstered his sidearm as Ashley invited them to step away from the store to a place where they could talk.

Kaidan dropped behind the two women, Vega falling into step beside him.

"Sir?" Vega glanced at him, voice low. "Is there something wrong?"

Kaidan shook his head, his mind still buzzing. "She's a ghost, Vega. She should be dead."

Vega shrugged. "So should Shepard."

Kaidan looked at him, eyes hard. "Shepard wasn't near the epicenter of a nuclear explosion."

Vega's eyes widened and he looked at the back of Ashley's head with incredulity.

The more Kaidan thought about it, the more it bothered him. The bomb on Virmire _had_ gone off; that wasn't in question. Though he'd been in the med bay at the time of detonation, Joker had seen the whole thing from orbit and had told him about it, unwillingly, when pressed. Kaidan's mind worked feverishly, going through all he knew about surviving a nuclear blast. The long and short of it? Be as far away as possible and your chances of surviving go up.

Ashley's squad on Virmire hadn't been at the epicenter like he and Shepard had before Joker pulled them out, but it was close enough. Close enough that the shockwave alone would have killed her instantly. Shockwaves from nuclear bombs were what did the most damage: they tore buildings part and had the power to rip the limbs off of people unlucky enough to be caught in the open by it. If by some chance she'd survived the shockwave, then her body would have been incinerated by the heat of the explosion. If, beyond all odds, she had survived both the shockwave and the explosion, and not been crushed by debris, the radiation would have killed her, slowly.

Kaidan swallowed hard. He had not thought of the grisly details since the day they happened, when he'd had plenty of time recovering in the med bay to think about what her death and his survival meant.

But here she was, living, breathing, and remembering things that no one else should know. He stared at the back of Ashley's head. _What is going on? _

They didn't walk very long. Ashley had an apartment overlooking the Wards. Kaidan walked in slowly, looking around. It was a clean, though small, apartment. He didn't really know what to expect. On the _Normandy SR-1_, where space was so limited, the crew had to share sleep pods so really, the only personal space the marines had were their lockers. Ashley had been like him and Shepard in that respect: a place for everything and everything in its place. Neat, orderly, clean: that was what her locker looked like and that was what her apartment looked like. Even the bed in the room adjoining the living area looked like its sheets had been folded with crisp military precision.

Ashley was at the fridge, pulling out drinks. Vega stood behind Kaidan at the door, uncertain as to his place. Shepard seemed to have no such qualms and walked in without hesitation.

"Nice view," Shepard commented, striding over to the far side of the room which had small balcony, just barely big enough for two chairs. An artificial breeze from some unseen vent ruffled her hair

"Ash," Shepard said, turning around, her face sober, "I've been patient, but I have to know... how are you alive?"

Ash's hands faltered as she passed out the drinks. "I... I don't know, Skipper. I woke up in a medical bay of a frigate. I was in and out of consciousness for weeks. Luckily the merchants that found me were the honest sort. They dropped me off at the nearest civilized world where I was in the hospital for..." She trailed off, eyes going distant. "Months? Years?" She shook her head. "It felt like forever."

"Why didn't you contact us?" Kaidan asked, ignoring the drink she'd given him. "Or the nearest Alliance outpost? Why haven't we heard from you until now?" He couldn't keep the suspicion from his voice. Shepard threw him a glance that was half annoyance, half warning.

Ashley laughed. "You're not going to believe me, but I had amnesia. I only recovered most of my memory over the past couple of weeks. I literally just moved here so I could find out what's going on—try to find you, Skipper."

Kaidan snorted. "You're right, I don't believe you. A simple DNA scan would have shown who you are and brought the Alliance into this."

"The hospital was far away from Alliance space. They didn't have Alliance databases or any reason to check them," she said with a shrug. Ashley flexed her wrist, activating her omni-tool. "As for the rest, I thought you might say that, so I had my medical records forwarded to me. Here, read them for yourself."

"You said 'most'," Shepard noted as Kaidan opened up the medical records on his omni-tool. "You haven't remembered everything?"

Ashley grimaced. "The important parts are back, but my memory is unreliable now. I... go blank sometimes, forget what I'm doing, or saying." She swallowed. "The doctors say I might not ever get it back." She laughed again, bitterly. "So ends the Williams tradition of military service."

Shepard leaned forward, frowning. "Anderson won't discharge you; I'm sure of it."

"Maybe," Ashley said, but she looked doubtful.

Kaidan scanned the medical files quickly. It was a standard hospital report on the condition of the patient and treatments rendered. Everything matched up with what Ashley had said, but something still itched... Quietly, he ran a scan on the file, trying to detect if it had been altered in any way. He'd not needed to use that particular scan in a long time, however, and it was out of date. If there was any kind of false information on this file, it was encrypted far too well for his omni-tool to detect. That gave him an idea.

"Uh, Shepard I want to see if I can get this upgrade replaced." He jiggled the parcel he'd bought; the box was a little dented. "I'll be right back."

"Right now?" Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be right back," he said again, and exited through the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As the door shut behind Kaidan, Shepard sat down in one of the chairs on the balcony, and Ashley took the other. Both women looked over at Vega standing awkwardly by the door.

"Sit down, Lieutenant," Shepard said, smiling. "We're off duty here."

Vega shifted, eyes slanting away from the women. "If it's all the same to you, ma'am, I'd rather stay here." He put his hands behind his back at parade rest.

Ashley raised an eyebrow while pretending to sip her drink, and Shepard struggled to contain a laugh. It was bizarre and impossible, but… it felt just like old times.

"So, Lieutenant," Ashley said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Where did Shepard pick you up?"

"Uh," Vega faltered, glancing at Shepard. She pretended not to notice, grinning to herself. Would he admit that they'd first been introduced as jailer and incarcerated criminal? Vega was a good soldier but he sort of hero-worshipped Shepard. Flattering, if slightly confusing. He seemed to consider the Alpha Relay Incident not worth mentioning since it was the event that stained her name to the rest of the galaxy.

"Uh," Vega coughed, heat rising to his face, "I, uh, think I'll see if Commander Alenko needs help at the store." He nodded to Shepard and exited the room.

Ashley let out a laugh. "You really know how to pick 'em, Skipper."

Shepard chuckled. "That's me: attracting armed crazies since 2183."

They sat in companionable silence for a moment, sipping their drinks. Shepard had time to examine Ashley's face, tracing the familiar lines of a woman who'd been a subordinate and then something almost like a sister before she'd died.

"Ash, it's so good to see you," Shepard said, voice thick. "You don't know how bad I wanted to go back for you..."

Ashley shook her head. "Nah, none of that now, Skipper. That's old news. This is now."

Shepard raised her glass. "To the future."

Ashley touched her glass to hers. "To the future."

"Speaking of the future," Ashley said in a sly voice, "You and the LT..."

Shepard cleared her throat. "It's Staff Commander Alenko... and... I'm going to need more of that stuff before I tell you anything." She wiggled her empty glass.

"You need more fizzy lemonade?"

"Hey, don't knock it. I run on this stuff!"

"Don't change the subject! That all but confirms it!" Ashley gloated, leaning forward in her chair. "All right, spill! I want details! The juicier the better."

Shepard shook her head, feeling heat come to her cheeks. "I'll have to give you details later, but after Virmire..." She fiddled with her glass. "There was a... deciding moment… when things… came together for us."

"At night?" Ashley asked shrewdly. When Shepard nodded, Ashley let out a whoop of delight. "I knew it! Joker owes me fifty credits!"

"You had a bet?" Shepard tossed a throw pillow at the other woman.

Ashley caught it, still laughing. "Of course! Joker was sure that the LT wouldn't be able to toss the regs out the airlock, but I'm glad to prove him wrong." She stood to get refills for them and plopped down in the chair again.

"So…, wow, if you two have been together since then," Ashley mused, "it's been…"

Shepard fiddled with her glass. "Actually we're… on a break?"

"What?"

Shepard winced. "He didn't react well to…" She paused. "Well, it's a really long story that I'll have to tell you about later. Suffice it to say… we have some issues to work through."

"Eh, I'm sure it's nothing a little lacy lingerie can't fix," Ashley said, waving it off.

Shepard laughed.

"Something to eat? I'm starving." Ashley stood and retreated to the kitchenette again. She spent awhile rummaging around in the fridge.

"Skipper?" Ashley said, her head still stuck in the fridge. "Have you ever wondered... if God cares?"

Shepard looked up, surprised at the sudden change in topic, but answered the question seriously. "Yes... I have wondered at times. Dark times... But... you and I had this talk before, Ash." She smiled uncertainly.

"I know... but sometimes... sometimes it seems like there's so much bad... so much that's just wrong and nothing is being done to fix it."

Shepard stood up, looking out over the balcony at the bright lights of the Wards. "He did do something," she said with quiet conviction. "He sent people like you and me; people that care enough to do something about the bad things."

"God didn't send me, Shepard."

She heard a click and looked up with a horrible sinking feeling in her gut to see Ashley pointing a gun at her, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Skipper. You don't know how much."

#

Kaidan hurried outside the apartment, heading down until finding a secluded corner away from potentially listening ears. "EDI," he said quietly, tapping his omni-tool, "I'm uploading some files. Could you examine them for any signs of alteration?"

"Certainly, Commander. One moment please," came the AI's smooth voice.

Kaidan felt guilt churning in his gut. He wanted to believe in Ashley; wanted to believe that she'd beaten the odds, that she could come back and take her rightful place as a valued member of the team that was going to defeat the Reapers. But… he'd never believed in ghosts before, and he wasn't about to start now. He almost told EDI to stop her scan but swallowed it down. If Ash was who she said she was, then the file would be clean.

_Please be clean,_ he begged. _For Shepard's sake._

While he was waiting on EDI, Vega came around the corner, looking surprised to see him.

Kaidan frowned. "Why did you leave the apartment?"

Vega shrugged. "I felt out of place as they were reminiscing. I figured it would be safe enough..." He looked confused. "Why are you here, sir? Did you get your upgrade replaced?"

At that moment, EDI chimed in from Kaidan's omni-tool.

"Analysis complete. Commander, these documents have indeed been falsified. They were created using Cerberus encryption protocols."

Kaidan swore. Drawing his sidearm, he motioned Vega ahead of him, back toward the apartment.

"Sir? What's going on?"

"Those medical files," he explained, heart beginning to thud in his chest, "they're not real. Ashley… that woman with Shepard isn't who we thought she was."

Vega's broad face went grim and he moved quickly up the stairs. At the door, Kaidan reached for the interface and heard a sound from within that made his stomach bottom out: a gunshot.

"Shepard!" Kaidan slammed the door release and ran through, Vega hot on his heels.

Shepard and Ashley were locked in a fight to control the gun, which was in Ashley's hand, but pointed up and away. Neither of them seemed to be injured, but Ashley was slowly moving Shepard back toward the balcony.

"Ash! Stop!" Kaidan shouted, but the two women didn't pay any attention.

Vega also had his sidearm out, but he glanced at Kaidan, unsure.

At that moment, Shepard managed to break Ashley's hold on the gun, dropping it to the floor. One of her legs kicked it aside. Vega ran forward, grabbing it off the floor and getting it safely out of reach.

At that moment, however, Ash tripped Shepard. She had to back step wildly to regain her footing and hit the low wall of the balcony. She tipped backward, still holding onto Ashley.

Kaidan could only watch in horror as both women tumbled over the edge.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"No!" Kaidan raced to the balcony, looking down, expecting to see two broken bodies on the floor below. Instead he saw what Shepard had tried to describe to him. Shepard and Ashley were still locked in combat in midair. A blue biotic corona enveloped them both, but in a flash of Shepard's face, he could tell she was exerting all the control she could muster to make the descent slow. In any other situation, it would have looked comical—two people locked in an embrace, spinning slowly in midair as if in time to a music only they could hear. Then he caught a glimpse of Ashley's face: cold, eerily calm, devoid of all emotion whatsoever. It chilled him.

Kaidan whipped around to Vega. "Go! Meet them at the bottom!"

"Sir, should I shoot to kill?" Vega's voice sounded grim.

"No!" Kaidan holstered his sidearm. "Subdue only. We need to question her..." _And find out what devil's game Cerberus is playing this time,_ he added grimly. Vega saluted and ran out of the room. Even running full tilt, it would take him a few minutes to reach the bottom, either by stairs or the elevator. Kaidan didn't want to waste that time.

Kaidan blew out a breath and flared his biotics. Without further hesitation, he vaulted over the edge of the balcony.

It was harder than it looked. Kaidan could feel the pull of gravity below, and the instinctive urge to fling himself away from it was almost overpowering. But he knew if he did that, he'd simply slam himself into a wall or the ceiling. Knife-edge precision was needed here.

His descent was clumsy at best, but it was controlled enough that he wasn't falling as quickly as he should. He hit the ground with a grunt, rolling to absorb the impact, and came up in time to see Ashley—now on the ground—pull her fist back and slug Shepard in the face. Blood gushed from her nose, but Kaidan felt gravity twist as a wave of biotic energy propelled Ashley off Shepard and through the air where she landed with a grunt next to some decorative potted plants.

Kaidan executed a quick mnemonic, freezing Ashley in stasis, at least for the time being.

"Shepard!" he knelt next to her and helped her sit up.

She nodded her thanks, wiping the trickling blood from her nose. As he helped her to her feet, she cocked an eyebrow at him. "I thought you didn't try new biotic maneuvers without practice first?"

"Well," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger on her face. "I figured I could loosen up the rules. Just this once."

Shepard smiled but it faltered as she looked over his shoulder at Ashley. "Kaidan," she said in a hoarse voice, "she... what..." She trailed off, hollow-eyed.

"Cerberus," Kaidan growled. "I had EDI run a scan of the medical files—they were falsified by Cerberus. They're involved somehow—they did something to her—and we're going to find out what."

Vega arrived then, emerging from the apartment complex building, and blinked in confusion at the scene. He eyed the immobilized Ashley with uncertainty, gun hovering up to cover her, though she was still frozen, and would be until Kaidan released her or his amp gave out.

Shepard moved toward him, ready to deliver orders. But through the gathering crowd, four C-Sec officers stepped into the scene, drawing their guns.

"Nobody move!" shouted one, a turian with dark plating. "Hands behind your heads! You!" The turian gestured at Vega. "Drop your weapon, now!"

"Easy, officer," Kaidan said, hands up and open. "This is Spectre business. Scan my chip." He held still as the turian came closer, suspicion still present in his small eyes. Once he was close enough to scan, the officer's omni-tool pinged.

Grunting in acknowledgement, the turian holstered his weapon and gestured for the others to do the same. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. Anything I can help with, sir?" he asked grudgingly as if already knowing the answer.

"Actually, yes," Shepard said, stepping forward. "We need to question this... person we apprehended, but we would appreciate an escort to the docking bay. It would enable us to keep her under control without worrying about the crowds."

The turian nodded. "Of course, ma'am." He turned, gesturing to his officers.

"Docking bay?" Kaidan muttered.

"If she's Cerberus, she's dangerous to everyone and everything around her," Shepard muttered back. "I want a controlled environment—the _Normandy_ is as good a place as any. Plus, with EDI, we might have an advantage we can't get anywhere else."

Kaidan nodded. A thought struck him. "Joker..."

Shepard ran a hand through her tangled hair. "Right. I should... probably call him; give him fair warning before he sees her." She grimaced. "Cerberus. What haven't they touched and ruined beyond repair?"

Kaidan caught her by the shoulders. "They at least gave me a second chance with you."

Shepard closed her eyes, nodding, and squeezed his hand. This wasn't the place for more.

"Sir?" One of the officers was back. He gestured to Ashley, still frozen in stasis. "Do you need cuffs...?"

"Yes," Kaidan said, walking over to Ashley, still frozen. Her limbs were splayed out in an uncomfortable pose. When he released her, she'd probably have trouble walking until the blood rushed back. He could keep her in stasis, but… "I can't move her easily like this," he said, turning back to the officer. "Stasis is designed to keep someone from moving."

The officer stepped closer with the cuffs. Shepard spoke up, still wiping blood from her nose. "How strong are those cuffs, officer? During our struggle, she displayed... unnatural strength for a human."

Kaidan shot her a questioning glance, she shook her head slightly. _Later_, she clearly meant.

"These cuffs are rated for krogan, ma'am," the turian C-Sec officer assured her.

Their strength was proven a moment later as Kaidan released Ashley from stasis and it took three of them to hold her down to put the cuffs on. Ash strained at the bindings, making inarticulate frustrated noises as she tried and failed to get free.

It was like watching a wild animal be caged, Kaidan thought, revolted on some level he couldn't identify.

Eventually, however, Ash seemed to realize that her struggling was in vain and subsided. It was only after they grabbed her again, wary of a renewal of her attack, that Kaidan saw her face. It was still carefully blank, as if someone had wiped all emotion, all humanity from her face, but her cheeks were wet with tears.

Shepard came back to where he was standing, not looking over at Ashley. "I just talked to Joker," she said, a dark bruise beginning to form on her cheek. "He's... not happy."

"I bet." Kaidan tipped her face away, examining the bruise. "You need to get some ice on that before it starts to swell."

Shepard pulled away. "It'll heal." The officers began to lead Ashley away, and she watched them, eyes bright. "Some other wounds, though..."

Kaidan didn't reply, but put his arm around her briefly. She gripped him tight, and made a motion as if to turn her face into his shoulder, but stopped herself. He swallowed hard against an unexpected lump in his throat.

Would Shepard ever get a break? He wondered. To stop worrying, and fighting, and hurting and simply be? Would they?

"Let's go," she said in a rough voice, gesturing Vega forward. Kaidan followed.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: As always, thanks to my beta, girlfromgraz, for showing me how to make this story better. Also, thank you readers for the reviews and favorites!  
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* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Ashley—or whatever she was—was compliant enough on the trip through the Citadel, not even struggling when the C-Sec officers put her into a patrol car, locking her into the interior restraints. An asari officer followed inside, ready to restrict Ashley with another stasis field should the need arise.

In a separate car, Shepard, Vega, and Kaidan led the C-Sec vehicle through the Wards, to the docking.

As the officers were getting Ashley out of the patrol car next to the _Normandy'_s airlock, she resumed fighting against the cuffs, throwing off the officers that tried to restrain her. Kaidan used stasis once again, giving the officers some breathing room. The asari rummaged around in a kit from the patrol car, emerging with a hypospray.

"This'll knock her out for a few hours; long enough for you to get her back under restraint," she offered.

Kaidan looked at Shepard. "Do it," she said, pressing her lips together.

Kaidan released the stasis and the officer pressed the hypospray against Ashley's arm. A moment later, she stopped struggling, going limp.

Kaidan spoke with the _Normandy _via his earpiece. The airlock opened, revealing a few crewmembers who saluted when they saw Shepard.

"Take her to the medical bay," Shepard ordered. "Double time, gentleman. She's not going to be out long. Make sure you restrain her, and tell Chakwas to use the good stuff." She turned to Kaidan. "Follow them, and make sure she doesn't wake up. If she does, they'll need your help to subdue her again."

Kaidan touched her arm. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'll live." She managed a small smile. "I'll be in the med bay in a few minutes."

Kaidan oversaw the transport of Ashley's limp body to the medical bay via a hastily retrieved stretcher. He kept an eye on her during the de-con cycle, wondering why Shepard disbelieved the asari's words about the sedative.

The de-con cycle ended and the door to the Normandy hissed open, revealing Joker who looked like someone had slugged him in the gut. His eyes met Kaidan's then drifted to the prone body on the stretcher.

"Ash..." His voice was hoarse. He looked up at Kaidan, eyes red-rimmed. "Is it really…? How...?"

Kaidan shook his head. "We don't have any answers, I'm afraid; just a lot of questions." The crew carrying Ashley moved through the door past Joker, heading down toward the elevator. Kaidan paused beside Joker. "We'll let you know as soon as we do."

Joker nodded, eyes still on the stretcher, and Kaidan left.

Chakwas was ready for them as they emerged onto Deck 3, face paling at the sight of Ashley but her hands were steady as she snapped restraints over Ashley's limbs on the bed. And it wasn't too soon. Ashley's eyes snapped open as the last restraint clamped into place, and she began struggling against the bands holding her down.

"Dr. Chakwas!" Kaidan readied himself for a stasis.

"I know, Shepard warned me," she said, her normally calm voice strained. She produced a hypospray, pressing it against Ashley's arm. The struggling slowed, then ceased.

Kaidan dismissed the crew who'd brought her in and turned back to the doctor.

Chakwas blew out a breath that ruffled the fringe of her gray hair. She activated the privacy settings in the bay, darkening the windows as the crew filed out.

"You look tired, Kaidan," she said, coming to stand in front of him. "Not getting a migraine, I hope?"

Kaidan shook his head. "No, not yet at any rate. It's... been a long day." Even looking back, thinking that not even two hours had passed since they first saw Ashley seemed impossible. An eternity had passed.

Shepard entered the med bay, face tight as if she was bracing herself for a punch.

"I had to give her another sedative," Dr. Chakwas said in response to Shepard's questioning look. "It seems to be as you thought, but I'll have to do a more thorough scan to be certain. And you need to let me look at your face."

Kaidan looked at Shepard. "What's going on?"

Shepard rubbed her brow. "Pieces of the puzzle," she said, hissing with pain as Chakwas examined her broken nose and dabbed antiseptic on her face. "Fact 1: There's no way Ashley Williams could have survived Virmire. Fact 2: This Ashley walks up to us, revealing things about us that we know no one else could have known. Logical assumption? This is Ashley Williams."

"You think she's a... clone?" Kaidan glanced at the sedated Ashley. It would account for the sudden violence... Clones, if forced to grow faster than natural time allowed, were often mentally unstable. If a clone, this Ashley would only be around three years old. But to have Ashley's memories Cerberus would have had to possess the original body…

"No. Not a clone." Shepard shook her head. "I think... I think she's me."

"What?"

"Project Persephone. Project Lazarus… Am I wrong to see a connection there?"

Dr. Chakwas frowned thoughtfully. "Lazarus is from Judeo-Christian beliefs and Persephone was an ancient Greek goddess from Earth. That seems different to my mind."

"They're both resurrection stories," Shepard pointed out, pacing. "Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus Christ. Persephone retreats into the Greek Underworld every winter and arises again with the spring." She stopped and faced Kaidan and Chakwas squarely. "What if I wasn't the only test subject?" She started to pace again, running her hand through her hair in agitation. "When I first thought about this, I first assumed that if there was another... me, another 'Lazarus,' it was either concurrent with my reconstruction or after. But it makes more sense for Lazarus to be the second—you don't try science like they used on me for the first time, especially if you want to keep the original body- - me - intact. They had to have had other subjects; control groups, failures before successes—someone before me." Shepard's eyes were wide, her face showing a mixture of emotions. "It would explain her strength and her resistance to sedatives. It all fits."

"But that's... impossible!" Kaidan protested.

"Not impossible; improbable, yes," said Mordin, striding into the med bay. "Would Cerberus spend the money? Too many unknown variables to speculate with further reliability. Need more data. Came as soon as I could, Shepard. Glad you asked. Fascinating case." He went over to the bed, peering down at Ashley with his bulbous eyes.

"We won't know for certain until we can scan her," Chakwas interjected gently. "Dr. Solus, could you draw a blood sample?"

"Of course. Happy to help." Mordin went to the sanitizer as Chakwas approached Kaidan and Shepard.

"Go. Eat; get some rest. We'll take it from here."

"But..." Shepard's eyes strayed to Ashley's sedated body.

"Miss Lawson is coming to supervise and offer her opinion as the former head of Project Lazarus. Her biotics can control Chief Williams should the need arise."

Shepard nodded, looking tired and defeated. Both she and Kaidan turned and left.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Not really sure of where he was going or what he was doing, Kaidan numbly followed Shepard as she entered the elevator and spoke the command for the captain's quarters.

The door hissed open and Shepard stumbled through, heading for her desk. She fumbled with the drawer, finally opening it and withdrawing a couple of glasses and a bottle of brandy. Without a word, she cracked the bottle—new, Kaidan noted absently—and poured them both a generous measure.

"I thought you didn't drink much—especially this stuff," he said, surprised out of his stupor as she tossed back the tumbler of amber liquid and poured another straight after. Back when they were still Commander Shepard and Lieutenant Alenko of the _Normandy _SR-1, she would drink a little for celebratory events, but hardly ever otherwise. He sipped from his glass; it was good, expensive brandy with a strong fruity flavor that stung his throat on the way down. Normally, he wasn't a brandy drinker, but anything vaguely alcoholic would work at this point.

"I don't, but this was a gift from Chakwas, so I couldn't say no," she said, her hands trembling so badly that the bottle clinked against the glass. "But right now I just want to forget this day; forget that I'm Shepard Almighty; forget that I had to fight for my life against the ghost of a woman I killed; forget that Cerberus has once again screwed with my life. He's not going to let me go, Kaidan, never—"

"Hey," Kaidan sat down his glass, gently took the bottle out of her hands, and pulled her toward him. They stood like that for awhile, not speaking, and Shepard's breathing gradually returned to normal as the trembling ceased.

"We'll get through this," he said, kissing the side of her head, fingers tangling in her hair. "The Illusive Man won't get away with this."

Shepard let out a watery chuckle and she pulled back slightly to look at him. "I've missed you." Her eyes turned sad, though a smile still lingered on her lips. "I've almost forgotten what it's like to have someone to talk like this, to be able to be honest about things, and… just be me."

Kaidan leaned down, kissing her gently, lingering, tasting the brandy on her mouth. "I missed you too."

After a moment, Shepard sighed, pulling back, but still staying in the circle of his arms.

"I think I'll take a shower then grab some lunch." She paused, searching his face. "Would you... like to join me?"

"I... have wanted nothing more since I saw you standing alive on Horizon," he said with a laugh, running his hands up and down her waist. "But... I don't want to rush things, Shepard. Right now we're both tired and emotionally spent..." He gazed at her, memorizing her features. "I'm not looking for a casual tumble. If we're going to... work for a relationship, it's going to be the real deal for me, and I want us to come together as whole, healthy people, not just a quickie because we've both been hit with the proverbial sledgehammer."

Shepard laughed, leaning forward to kiss him again. "You always this cautious with a sure thing?"

He smiled with relief, returning the kiss. "Yeah. You know me, Shepard."

She chuckled again, resting her forehead against his. "You're right, of course." She sighed, trailing her fingers along the side of his jaw. "Comfort sex isn't that great anyway…"

"Shepard…"

She nipped his lower lip playfully. "See you down in the mess?"

Kaidan left a moment later, though as he was leaving her room, he could hear the shower start up and he stopped, tempted to turn around and take back everything he'd said. But despite the joking around, he knew it was the right move. For now, anyway.

#

Entering the mess, he saw Joker sitting hunched over a cup of coffee, staring at the medical bay. Kaidan nodded a greeting to Rupert, accepting the tray of food he offered up: today's menu was asari gumbo with a side of rice and crisp, steamed greens. He sniffed the spicy aroma appreciatively and sat down at the table opposite Joker.

"Hey," Kaidan said, stirring the gumbo and rice.

Joker blinked, seeming to come out of whatever thought had glued his eyes to the medical bay door.

"What's going on, Alenko?" Joker said, his eyes going hard as he turned to Kaidan. "Shepard only told me that you guys found Ashley and that things 'weren't good'. Next thing I know, you're bringing her in on a stretcher, and now there's a guard posted at the door." His hand tightened around his coffee mug as if to stop himself from flinging it away in frustration.

Kaidan chewed through his mouthful of food. "Sorry, Joker. There wasn't time to let you in on what happened." He sat back and filled the pilot in on the details: Ashley's unexpected appearance in the Wards, the falsified medical files he'd sent to EDI, and the ensuing fight.

"With luck," Kaidan finished, stabbing the greens with his fork, "the scan will tell us what we're dealing with."

"It's Ashley, damnit! Still breathing God and poetry like it's her bread and butter. Don't act like she's some… some _mech _that you can just disassemble."

Kaidan looked up, surprised at the ferocity in Joker's voice. Joker ran a hand up and under his hat.

"Yeah," Kaidan said finally. "We know. We're going to find out what's going on."

Joker didn't appear to hear the last, turning to stare again at the medical bay doors.

Shepard entered the mess then, hair still damp and smelling amazing—clean soap and jasmine shampoo. She also looked better than when he'd left her, no longer on the edge but back in control, ready to put her shotgun in the face of today's monster and feed it a few inferno rounds.

"Already finished?" she said, coming over to look at Kaidan's tray, her hands lingering on his shoulders.

"Yeah, but I'm getting seconds." He stood with his empty tray to prove his point.

Shepard sat beside Joker at the table, nudging him with her elbow when he didn't even look at her.

"You okay, Joker?"

"I'm fine," he answered shortly. "Excuse me. I need to get back to the helm." He stood and hobbled away.

"But we're docked," Shepard said, but Joker didn't turn around and they heard the elevator open a moment later.

Kaidan frowned. That kind of exit bordered on insubordination. Of course, it was Joker and he always liked toeing the line... but still, it didn't bode well for his mental state.

They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes until the door to the medical bay hissed open.

"Commanders?" Dr. Chakwas emerged from the medical bay, running the back of her wrist over her forehead.

"News?" Shepard gripped her drink glass with white knuckles.

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "The scan is complete. The computer is collating the data right now."

"How is she?"

"Groggy. We've had to dose her up with sedatives again. Otherwise, she hasn't said a word; doesn't even appear to recognize me." The doctor said the last with a furrowed brow, her kind eyes sad. She cleared her throat. "One of the first things we were able to determine was that her eyes—like yours Shepard—are cybernetic replacements. They may also be cameras, linked back to Cerberus' network, at least according to Ms. Lawson."

Shepard swallowed. "What are we doing to limit her sight?"

"For now? Surgical tape over her eyelids to keep them closed. Simple but effective so long as she remains restrained. Mordin has some ideas for disabling the cameras permanently, but it would most likely require surgery."

Kaidan blew out a breath, stomach clenching. It was one thing to suspect that Ashley was a cybernetic mishmash of evil Cerberus intent, but to have it confirmed made him regret eating so much.

"All right. Let's see her." Shepard stood from the table, Kaidan following suit. She glanced at him. "You don't have to do this, Kaidan."

"I've got your back, Shepard. Besides," he added in a softer voice, "she's my friend too."

Mordin was bringing up the data as they walked in. Miranda, her expression troubled, stood near Ashley's bed. Ashley lay much as they had left her: dark hair spread out against the thin pillow, breathing shallowly against the restraints that crossed over her head, chest, arms, and legs.

"Ah, Shepard," Mordin glanced up from the computer and resumed typing, talking all the while. "Good timing. Data collation nearly complete. Enlisted EDI's help. AI faster, notices patterns computer may not. Also, Cerberus connection useful."

Miranda roused herself and walked over, tapping a control on the computer to bring up a holographic display of a female human body. "Your guess was correct, Commander. Ashley Williams has been subjected to the same processes used in Project Lazarus, with some minor differences."

"Differences? How?" Shepard looked calm, though her hands were clenched at her sides.

"Most seem to be 'cosmetic' you might say," Mordin said, still tapping away. "Subjected to different amounts of what you might call 'resurrection formula' to reawaken dead and damaged tissue. Consistent with experimentation. Early efforts. Those working on her likely new at this resurrection procedure. Processes perfected by the time you came around, Shepard."

"So..." Kaidan looked from Dr. Chakwas to Miranda. "So it _is_ Ashley?"

"I see no other explanation," Chakwas said, folding her arms over her chest. "Her DNA matches Alliance records. Her skeletal system—what isn't cybernetic—shows signs of multiple fractures, consistent with wounds sustained in the blast of a nuclear bomb. On the assumption it is Ash, the shockwave at Virmire alone must have killed her instantly, Commander. Other than that, I can only surmise that the reason 80 percent of her skeletal system is cybernetic is because of the damage she would have received being so close to the epicenter of the blast. But it seems likely that she had found good cover before the bomb went off, otherwise I don't know that even Cerberus would have been able to work with... what would be left over."

"There's one other reason why we think it is Ashley Williams' body and not a clone," Miranda said, biting her lip and looking at the holographic Ashley. She tapped something and red lights flared all over the body. "She is fighting cancer in nearly every major organ. Whatever tech Cerberus used on her seems to have delayed the effects of the radiation from the bomb on Virmire, but it seems that they couldn't get it all."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Most important part," Mordin said into the horrified silence, reaching to the computer and adjusting it so that the holograph zoomed in to show just the head. A series of small blinking lights lit up on the brain. "Subject—"

"Her name is Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," Shepard interrupted with a hard glint in her eye.

Mordin blinked rapidly. "Of course. Meant no disrespect. Speaking as a scientist. Distance necessary. Helps to avoid personal pain. Will use her name if you wish it." He took a breath. "Chief Williams implanted with control chip, or chips to be more precise. One for each region of the brain with the main located on the frontal lobes. Presuming that chips communicate with each other. Controls all higher thought and movement. Probable linked control of cybernetic systems as well. Moving her remotely like a mech."

Shepard looked at Miranda who seemed to be struggling to retain her usual mask of calm competence. Clearing her throat, Shepard gave Miranda a significant glance.

"Yes," Miranda said, pursing her lips, "This is what... I would have done to you had I been in charge of Project Lazarus."

"Wait a minute, what?" Kaidan stepped forward. This was the first he'd heard about such a thing.

Miranda spared him a look that somehow managed to look condescending and apologetic at the same time.

"If you had brought back to life the one person that might rally the galaxy against the Reapers, wouldn't you have done everything in your power to make sure she stayed the course?"

"I wouldn't _enslave _her!" Kaidan growled.

"Enough," Shepard said, rubbing her brow. "The real point is that Ashley wasn't acting on her own earlier."

"Indeed. All signs point to chip activity, even now when under sedation. Reason she keeps fighting when sedation wears off."

"So what do we do about it?" Shepard looked at each of them in turn. "We can't question her while the chip is active. She'll simply ignore us."

"Or feed you false information according to whatever orders she's receiving," Miranda pointed out.

"Have ideas," Mordin said, pacing in thought. "Electrostatic generator could short out chips. Downside: uncomfortable, possibly painful for subject. Unknown ramifications against cybernetics. Could cause permanent systematic failure."

"And this ship is only equipped for limited term life support," Chakwas pointed out.

"Subject on life support would defeat purpose," Mordin continued, walking toward the windows. "Must be conscious, cognizant, able to recognize old friends, memory intact." He turned around, walking back toward the beds. "Or perhaps microwave emitter. Hazardous, could lead to radiation poisoning—not helpful in cancer patient." He turned again. "Perhaps focused infrasound wave. Tune into frequency of control chip, override systems, take control ourselves. Potential side effects damage to delicate inner ear mechanisms, joints or organs."

_Override… _An idea occurred to Kaidan. He pulled up his omni-tool, keying up his combat sub routines. "What about overload?"

They stared at him.

"Think about it," he insisted, "we use this in combat. It generates a pulse that overloads the systems of the tech we're trying to affect whether it's shields or overheating a weapon."

"He's right," Miranda said, also keying up her omni-tool, "an overload is powerful enough to override safety protocols but gentle enough that it's a temporary effect only. If we use overload on Chief Williams' control chips, it would cause them to shut down in an automatic safety protocol to prevent overheating."

"And the shutdown would create a vulnerable window," Kaidan continued, getting excited. "EDI could you hack into the system itself during that window and disable it?"

"Certainly, Commander Alenko."

"Excellent!" Mordin nodded approvingly. "Simplest solution best. First time using overload on cybernetic systems. Interesting field study. Will take notes."

"We shouldn't try it until the sedative wears off," Dr. Chakwas said, sounding excited herself. "Shouldn't be long. I make it another half hour perhaps."

All of them except Chakwas and Shepard exited the medical bay. Mordin headed to his lab, presumably to prepare for the notes he wanted to take for the "field study." Miranda took the opportunity to eat lunch and finish some paperwork.

Kaidan, feeling a little gritty from the day's events, gathered his things from his bunk in the crew quarters and headed to the shower across the hall. He washed quickly, scrubbing his fingers through his hair, working up a lather along his skin, and letting the hot water run into his face for a brief luxurious moment before turning it off. The small holes at the bottom of the shower stall sucked the rest of the water into the drains to be cleansed and recycled for the next person's shower. As he dressed, he hoped that his idea would work. And what if it did? Would Ashley still be Ashley? Would she be able to speak with them, remember them?

_Will I be able to apologize to her? _He blew out a breath, stomach clenching with guilt. Survivor's guilt, the head people called it, but it was more than that—_Shepard chose me over her. Was it because of us? Did she make the right decision?_—and though he'd made his peace with that long ago, with all of this going on everything seemed to come slamming back as if Virmire had happened yesterday.

He pulled on his under shirt, pulling his dog tags out from underneath, and had picked up his Alliance officer's jacket when EDI's blue holographic interface popped up on the console beside the door.

"Commander Alenko, you are needed in the medical bay. Chief Williams has escaped her restraints."

#

Joker leaned against Rupert's counter, refreshing his cup of coffee. He looked up as the medical bay door hissed open and people began pouring out. Joker set down his mug and hobbled over as quickly as he could. Chakwas and Shepard were discussing something quietly at the computer. They looked up at the opening of the door.

"Hey," he said.

"Joker, you shouldn't be here," Shepard began, but Joker cut her off.

"I have as much right to see her as you and Alenko do!" He rubbed a hand down his face. "I just... want to see her for a minute, is that too much to ask?"

"Of course not, Jeff," Chakwas soothed. She motioned Shepard toward the door. "She's under sedation right now. We'll be right outside if you need anything."

He nodded, throat suddenly tight, and stood there stupidly as the women left. Grumbling to himself, he limped to Ashley's bedside, staring down at her. He still could hardly believe it was her, but he'd recognize that strong jaw and those firm lips anywhere. The restraints made her look different: weak, helpless, something that the Ashley Williams he remembered never was. Hesitating, he reached out a hand, touching the backs of her fingers.

"Never thought I'd see you like this, Chief," he said with an uncomfortable chuckle. "But damn is it good to see you anyway. Not that you can hear me, probably. The doc put you under... said you're dangerous, but I always knew that. Anyone that can nail a guy between the eyes at three hundred yards merits caution. S'why I never..." He trailed off. Regrets, buried deep, resurfaced.

The fingers under his hand twitched. Joker sucked in a breath.

"Joker...?" Her voice was hoarse, groggy from sleep. But it was her. It was _Ash_.

"Ash!"

She swallowed, moving slightly within the bindings of the restraints. "What's going on? Why can't I open my eyes?"

"There's some tape stuff there," he said, squeezing her hand. His heart was thudding like crazy. Damn, he'd missed her.

"Can you... take it off? I'd… like to see you."

"Sure. Give me a minute." It didn't seem like a big deal, he thought. Why would they tape them shut anyway? He winced as the surgical tape pulled a little at her skin, but then it was free. She blinked a couple of times, then her eyes focused on him and she smiled.

"Hey flyboy."

Joker smiled back, not willing to admit how it felt to hear that nickname again for the first time in three years.

"Hey yourself. Never thought I'd see you..." _Again_. "In a place like this."

"You know me," she said with a wry smile, "I go to all the classy joints." She smacked her lips together, making a face. "Ugh. My mouth tastes like something crawled inside and died in there."

"I'll get you some water." He hobbled to the little sink in the corner, filling a glass at the tap and taking it back to her.

She raised an eyebrow as he hovered the glass over her lips. Her head was restrained so he would likely spill it on her as he tried to give her a drink.

"Here," he said, setting the glass down. "Let's make this easier." He tapped the control for the head restraint and it zipped away.

"That feels better," she said, moving her head around, "but we've still got spillage issues. I can't lift my head up very far." She twitched her hands and laughed. "Any other time something like this would be kinky." She winked at him.

Joker hesitated and he berated himself. _Why are you hesitating? This is Ashley! She would never hurt you._ She was one of the few—along with Shepard and Alenko—that hadn't treated his condition like a joke.

"Alright," he found himself saying. "But only one arm and I'll have to strap you back in before they come back. Shepard and Chakwas would kill me otherwise."

She didn't say anything, just watched as he undid the arm. Her fingers flexed and clenched in their new freedom and accepted the glass of water he pressed into it. She leaned up as much as she could, still spilling a few drops, but managing to get most of it in her mouth. She laid her head back with a sigh.

"That's better," she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. When Joker returned from setting the glass on the sink, she was watching him with a small smile.

"What?"

"I was just thinking about that night at Flux with the Commander and the LT, remember?"

Joker did remember and felt his face flush. That night, Alenko had finally convinced him to leave the safety of his pilot's chair for their last free evening on the Citadel and to celebrate Shepard's promotion to Spectre. Sometime in the night, it had stopped from being an obligation to actual fun. He hadn't gotten really drunk, just tipsy enough that his legs started giving him troubles. Ashley, just as tipsy as he was, had hoisted him on her back as if he weighed nothing and they had charged back to the _Normandy_, laughing and whooping with drunken glee the whole way.

And in the _Normandy_, when she'd deposited him safely in his chair, they'd kissed—an accidental, brief, alcohol-induced kiss. Nothing else had happened and they'd never spoken of it afterwards. Joker had assumed that the haze of alcohol had wiped it from her memory and didn't bother to bring it up: he didn't date crew. It was better that way.

"Um, yeah, I remember," he said, clearing his throat. "Didn't think you did."

"How could I forget?" Ashley's voice dipped lower and her one free hand reached up to his face, her fingers teasing his beard. Joker's breath caught in his chest. Her fingers wandered across his jaw, touching gently on his lips, traveling down his chest and to his arm and there it stayed, rubbing up and down his forearm.

Joker suppressed a shudder. "Ash—"

"Let me out, Joker."

His eyes snapped open. There was an oddly intent expression on her face and her touch on his arm had stilled, though she still held onto him.

He swallowed hard. "You know I can't do that—ow! Hey, lighten up on the grip there—"

"Do it or I break it." Her voice had changed. Just a moment ago it had been low and husky, bringing images of her to his mind that had no business being there. Now it was harsh, demanding; the voice she used to chew out an ensign who spilled coffee on the workbench and didn't clean it up.

"Ashley, what—augh!" His question was cut short by the sound of the bones in his arm breaking like twigs.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I actually wrote a drabble based off the event Joker remembers in this chapter. It's in my profile under the story marked "Shore Leave" with the chapter title "Piggyback."**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Joker fell back against the opposite bed, twisting out of Ashley's grip. White hot but familiar pain stabbed through his body. Ash had let go of his arm for an attempt to reach the control panel for the rest of the restraints.

_Idiot, idiot, idiot! _He cursed himself.

"Joker?" He heard the blessed hiss of the medical bay door opening and Chakwas's pleasant voice. "I thought I heard—Shepard! Quick!"

The next few moments were a blur of activity. Joker saw it all dimly through a haze of pain. Shepard rushed in, wrestling Ash's arm away from the control panel, Chakwas digging around in her stores for another sedative. Kaidan soon ran in too, only half dressed, his omni-tool active.

"Commander should I use the sedative?" Chakwas emerged from her stores, glancing from Shepard struggling with Ashley to Kaidan.

"No, let me try overload. Be ready in case it doesn't work. Shepard, stand back, this might hit you too," Kaidan said, voice taunt with worry as Ashley trashed against her restraints. Shepard nodded and at some unspoken signal, ducked out of the way. Ashley swung her arm up, but Kaidan keyed his omni-tool and there was a crackling flash, a smell of ozone, and then Ashley's body was arcing, eyes popping, jaw clenched.

A sudden, terrible silence filled the room and then alarms began shrieking. Chakwas rushed over. "She's going into cardiac arrest!"

"EDI, hack the chip, now!" Kaidan barked, running to Chakwas's side as began CPR.

"Kaidan, the defibrillator," Chakwas ordered, continuing chest compressions on Ashley.

"Hacking control chip," said the AI, her soothing voice out of place in the chaos of the medical bay. Shepard saw Joker huddling off to the side, face in a grimace of pain. She led him to a more distant bed closer to the AI core. She didn't know how to set the bone, but she could at least give him pain medication; she'd learned that much for herself at least. Joker didn't seem to notice the hypospray she gave him, but after a moment, the wild-eyed look faded and some color returned to his face.

Joker glanced up at Shepard, then looked down at his cradled broken arm. "Sorry."

She reached out to touch his shoulder but thought better of it. "This is partially my fault. I should have warned you." She ran a hand through her hair. "What a mess." They watched Chakwas and Kaidan work on Ashley.

Finally, Chakwas and Kaidan stepped back, and Joker heard the monitor beside her bed give out a steady _beep, beep, beep. _He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. She was alive. Alive but did the hack work?

"Success," EDI's voice intoned. "I have full access to Chief Williams' control chips. Putting them on standby mode. Please be warned that this will not be a permanent solution. Cerberus network protocols indicate a high probability that they will attempt to regain control of their asset. Continued restraint is recommended."

Shepard stepped up to the bed, staring at the breathing tube that they'd had to insert in Ashley's mouth. She glanced at Kaidan.

"When will she wake up?"

He dragged the back of his wrist over his forehead. "A few minutes? A few hours? I don't know."

In some unspoken decision, Kaidan and Shepard stayed by the bed, waiting. Chakwas tended to Joker's arm. He stopped by the bed when she finished, staring at Ashley, then left.

Shepard stepped out to get them all coffee. Several cups later, EDI spoke into the silence. "Dr. Chakwas, Chief Williams' brain patterns indicate that she is waking up."

Chakwas looked at the monitors, nodding her agreement with the AI, and gently removed the breathing tube. Ashley coughed and gagged a little as it slipped out. Chakwas held the back of her head, letting her sip a mouthful of water to soothe her throat. Ashley blinked slowly as she became more awake, looking around the medical bay with confusion. Shepard and Kaidan stepped close to the bed and looked up at all of them crowding around, her expression bewildered at first and then with dawning horror.

"Oh God," she whispered, sounding like a prayer. 'What have I done?"

#

"Are you hungry?" Shepard asked Ashley, setting the tray on her lap. Ashley's bed had been adjusted so that she was sitting up, though, per EDI's recommendation, they kept her restrained except for her head. Since she'd woken up, she'd made a remarkable recovery. Normal victims of a heart attack would still be weak but as Shepard had predicted, the Cerberus cybernetics didn't keep her down for long.

Ashley didn't respond; she was looking at the door, eyes distant.

"I could have killed him, Shepard," she said in a hoarse voice. Chakwas said the hoarseness would go away after a day or two: the breathing tube had scraped her trachea raw.

"But you didn't. Joker understands—now that I've told him about the control chips." Shepard shifted in her chair. "It was my fault for not telling him. It never would have happened otherwise."

Ashley looked back at her, eyes red-rimmed. "It was horrible. The control chips only controlled my actions, but most of my thoughts were my own. It's like being possessed... able to see what was happening but not able to do anything about it." She looked away again. "You shouldn't even be talking to me. Who knows what I might do? What might be transmitted back to Cerberus?"

"EDI is keeping an eye on your control chips. She says that as long as they're disabled, your retina cameras won't transmit either. Right now, you're you."

Ashley nodded. "Right… you'll need to explain that one to me. Who's Edie and what ship are we on because the chip made me fight to not get on it when you called it the _Normandy_, but this sure doesn't look like the _Normandy_ I remember."

Shepard sat back in the chair, transferring the tray to the side table. "Well, that… is a long story."

Ashley turned to look at her, a small smile on her lips. "Well, you've got a captive audience, Skipper. Shoot."

#

Ash finished swallowing the last of her food, eyes wide as Shepard finished the story of the past three years.

"Well… damn, Skipper, I don't know what to say." She stared at Shepard. "When you said that you and the LT had issues—you weren't lying."

Shepard shook her head. "The end of all sentient life as we know it and you're worried about my love life?"

Ashley shrugged. "Reapers are above my pay grade, but old fashioned human romance? That's something I can understand."

"We'll be okay," Shepard said. "The one good thing war does is put the unimportant things to the side. Kaidan and I… we'll be okay."

A slow smile spread over Ashley 's face.

"What?" Shepard asked warily.

"Gimmie that terminal, Skipper," Ashley said, gesturing at Chakwas' desk. "I want to check something."

Shepard stood up and retrieved the terminal, setting it on the food tray and rolling it close so Ashley could reach it. Ashley grinned again and began typing, her fingers dancing through a console screen, enlarging one screen with a flick and dismissing it with another.

"What are you up to?" Shepard asked, sipping her coffee.

"Lingerie shopping. For you."

Shepard choked. "Ash!"

The other woman cackled with glee. "You're not getting out of this one. The girls back in the 212 had a sacred tradition of buying lingerie for bachelorette parties. Marines don't get many chances to wear fun stuff, right? And I _know_ this is something you would never do for yourself. Poor Alenko would have to deal with regulation sport bras and granny panties if you were left to your own devices."

"But I'm not getting married!"

Ashley shrugged. "Maybe not now. But it'll happen."

"Ash—"

"I want to do this, Shepard. Let me have some fun, eh?"

Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Just… don't get anything with leopard spots."

"That's the spirit!"

Ashley made her purchases with a flourishing swipe of her hands and shut down the console. "I'm having it delivered to your PO box on the Citadel, 'kay?"

"Oh great. I can pick it up with Anderson looking over my shoulder."

Ashley only cackled again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Many thanks to my beta girlfromgraz and a RL friend I have who works in cardiac surgery at a local hospital for the tips on making the heart attack scene more realistic.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Taetrus?" Shepard gripped the edge of the table in the communication room. "The Reapers are on Taetrus?"

"At least two confirmed—though they're attacking different hemispheres separately," Garrus said, pointing on the holographic map of the planet. "They must have known that Taetrus was in a weakened condition from the bomb and war. But why only two?"

"They're probably testing the turian defenses; seeing how quickly we can respond," Shepard said, her face grim.

Corporal Tallon, the turian on the comm, spoke up. "We need the _Normandy_, Commander Shepard. How soon can you be here?"

"Approximately one and a half hours," EDI offered. "The ship will need to refuel before hitting the Widow Relay."

"We'll be there soon. Hang on," Shepard assured Corporal Tallon.

"With both claws, Commander." The comm clicked off.

"I'll go prep for groundside," Garrus said after a moment. "Want me to alert Alenko and Vega?"

Shepard nodded. "I'll be right behind you."

Shepard leaned over the table for a moment as the door hissed shut behind her. Even though the battle on Earth hadn't been that long ago, she'd allowed herself to grow complacent. The news that the Reapers were again attacking caught her like an unexpected punch to the gut. Just like Alchera, the _Normandy_ could be vaporized within minutes of coming into the system. All the upgraded weapons and shielding in the galaxy wouldn't count for anything if a Reaper had them in sight.

She blew out a breath, releasing her fears. No. That wasn't going to happen. They were ready this time in a way they never could have been when they faced Sovereign.

It would be okay. They would fight and survive and win. She had to believe it or no one else would.

"EDI," said, lifting her head, "tell the crew to assemble."

#

Shepard walked into the med bay. Ashley looked up hopefully from the terminal in front of her. Dr. Chakwas nodded in greeting and went back organizing her supply cabinet.

"What are you watching?" Shepard asked, coming to sit in the chair by Ashley's bed.

"Citadel Council briefings from Citadel News Net," Ashley said, fighting a yawn. "Wanted to catch up on what I'd been missing."

Shepard winced. "You're a glutton for punishment."

"I know." Ashley rolled her eyes and shut down the console. "Anyway. What can I do for you, Skipper?"

Shepard tossed her one of the packages she'd been holding behind her back toward Ashley who caught it. "What is…?" Ashley broke out in surprised laughter as she read the label on the MRE. "'Irish Cream Cappuccino'? You remembered!"

Shepard chuckled. "How could I forget? Feros—"

"Geth around the corner—" Ashley continued.

"That foul creeper muck sprayed all over our visors—"

"And you biotic geeks so hungry you're ready to eat rocks," Ashley laughed.

"And Gunnery Chief Williams pulling out her last MREs to save us poor, starving biotics—Irish Cream Cappuccino." Shepard raised her plastic bag and they toasted. Shepard ripped the top off with her teeth and sipped the soupy, lukewarm cappuccino with a grin.

"Heard from Joker about Taetrus," Ashley said after taking a sip from her drink bag. "We're on our way?"

Shepard sobered. "Yeah. Wanted to check with you before we hit the relay… So you and Joker been talking?"

Ash fiddled with a bit of loose plastic on her drink bag. "Yeah. Didn't think he'd want to speak to me again, but…" She shrugged. "We're good."

Shepard compressed her lips. "Ash, you know us, we're going to fight and do our best… but there's always a chance we might not come back from this. Do you want me to contact your family? They would be overjoyed to—"

"No!" Ash shook her head. "They've mourned and moved on. It... would break their hearts to see me like this and then lose me again."

Shepard's stomach clenched. "Ash—"

The other woman smiled sadly. "I know about the cancer. I have, what, maybe weeks?"

"There are better treatments-"

Ash shook her head again. "Between the poison to kill the cancer and fighting off Cerberus hack attacks... I won't really be living. I'd be stuck here or a hospital somewhere."

Shepard didn't reply, her throat going tight.

"Can you tell me about them?" Ashley said, sounding wistful. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah," Shepard said with a smile. "They're okay. They're all still on Amaterasu. Your sister Abby got married last year to... oh, what was his name? Your mother sent me an invitation."

"Abby? Married?" Ashley grinned. "It was probably Katashi from college. They've been dating off and on since high school."

"That was the name," Shepard nodded, fiddling with her empty MRE bag. "Lynn is still at seminary and Sarah is in college, pre-med. Your mother said in her last letter that Sarah was thinking of joining the Alliance as a medical officer."

Ashley leaned her head back against the bed. "Good," she said, suddenly sounding exhausted. "Good for them."

Shepard took the empty MRE bags and threw them in the med bay incinerator. "I have to go armor up for the last legs of the trip."

"Hey Skipper. You know I'd have your back if not for…" Ashley raised her restrained hands with a wry smile.

"I know." Shepard nodded. "See you on the other side."

#

Taetrus was in chaos. Though she couldn't see it from orbit, Shepard felt as though she could imagine the massive Reapers like a dark tumors on the continents of the turian colony. The ship's sensors suddenly blinked on, showing the Reapers' locations with bright red dots..

Joker looked up from his controls, face grim. "That bastard is right on top of Vallum, Commander." He shook his head. "Dick move."

Shepard tightened her grip on the back of the pilot chair. Vallum, Taetrus' capital city, had only recently made some recovery after the separatist fanatic crashed his ship at near-FTL speed into the city, causing death and devastation for thousands of civilians. To the people down there now, the nightmare had returned. She glanced at the scanner. There were some ships fleeing the planet but not nearly enough.

"EDI, Joker, help coordinate evac from here and let me know when the Migrant Fleet gets in the system."

"Will do, Commander. Good hunting."

#

The surface of Taetrus was a broiling mess of panic. In some places, the turian sense of military discipline seemed to be holding together by mere threads, the orderly lines of civilians waiting for escape transports quivering with terror barely held in check. A tall, helmeted turian met them as they disembarked.

"Dea?" Garrus asked.

The turian turned to him slowly. "Yeah. I'm here."

Garrus' mandibles flexed. "Uh. Right. Shepard this is Communications Officer Corporal Dea Tallon. She's part of the garrison in Vallum, the one we talked to over the comm. I checked in with her from the shuttle. She got separated from her unit in the initial attack. Reapers are jamming local communications."

"They're dead," Dea said unexpectedly. "There's no way they survived the blast. My squad brothers are dead, my commanding officer is dead; the lieutenant is dead. I'm alone."

"You don't know that," Garrus insisted.

Shepard looked at Dea, unable to see more than a shadowy outline of the face under the visor. "We'll keep an eye out for them. What's the situation?" she asked as they moved through the crowd, the noise of crying children and moaning injured ringing in the background. Kaidan and Vega followed, faces unreadable behind their helmets.

"Taetrus—and Vallum specifically—upgraded to kilo-weight anti-aircraft batteries after the Facinus incident. But the Reapers have jammed the signal or damaged it or something. Either way, it's not responding to hails. We need to check it out. Turian navy is on the way, but..."

They exited the spaceport, coming out into the open air. In the distance, hovering over the skyscrapers of the city like a child playing with toys, loomed the Reaper, its insect-like appendages gleaming with red light. Shepard felt a brief sense of vertigo. Once again, she was standing on the side of the Citadel Tower. An airless, no-gravity battle raged around her. And above them loomed the behemoth that was desperately trying to kill them all.

Kaidan turned to Garrus. "The Reapers' shields are the real problem."

Garrus nodded, mandibles quivering. "The Taetrus Planetary Protection has been trying to distract them from the surface, to give the civilians more time to escape, but they may as well be gnats for all the good the weapons do against their shields. It's just like Sovereign all over again."

"Tali and Legion have been working on that problem," Shepard said in an assuring voice. "We learned a lot about them from the attack on Earth. Once we get the anti-aircraft cannon back online, that will do a lot to whittle them down."

"Alliance?" A harried-sounding voice came up behind them. "Spirits, am I glad to see you."

Shepard turned back to the newcomer, a turian in uniform, but not armor. "Can I help you? We need to get going…"

"Right. Sorry, but I wonder, Commander, if you could spare a couple of your men. We're fighting panic here and the evacuation would go quicker if we could keep order. My men are stretched thin and we were hit pretty hard when the… that thing came into the atmosphere."

Shepard glanced at Garrus, unsure.

"I'll stay, ma'am," Vega said, stepping forward.

"And I as well," Dea said.

Looking relieved, spaceport official led the two soldiers away.

"Alright," Shepard said, turning back to the city, Kaidan and Garrus at her side. "Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

They nearly made it to the anti-aircraft cannon before they were set upon by a horde of turian husks. They were faster and stronger than their human counterparts, and it wasn't long before Shepard and Garrus were back to back, breathing hard. Kaidan was also close, flinging husks away with a huge biotic push that Shepard felt like a pull behind her navel.

"This is taking too much time!" Garrus yelled, dodging a clawed swipe from a lurching husk. He pumped it full of assault rifle rounds, and Shepard shoved the body away into a group of three more oncoming enemies. "Shepard, you make a break for the battery. Alenko and I will hold them off."

"You sure?" she yelled back.

"Do it!" Kaidan yelled. "We've got your back!"

Shepard flung her arm out in a biotic wave that sent a tide of incoming husks falling over and ran through the newly created gap. A few came after her but looking back, she saw Kaidan getting their attention. She caught his eyes once before he focused again on the battle at hand, and her breath caught in her throat. They hadn't said anything before arriving on Taetrus—hadn't had time to themselves since that moment in her cabin. No time for regrets now. _Focus, Shepard._

The anti-aircraft cannon was a huge construct sitting on top of a building that housed the few soldiers meant to operate it and perform maintenance. She heaved aside a chunk of debris from the entrance to the building and entered, pistol at the ready in case husks were guarding it. There seemed to be no one inside though the smashed panels showed that some damage had been done as the husks passed through the area. She activated her omni-tool and examined the panel. This would take a few minutes. She tapped her earpiece.

"EDI, I'm going to need your help on this." She removed her helmet to better see the damaged electronics. Hotwiring was Kaidan's domain. She knew enough to get by in the field; how to defuse bombs and the like, but this was too important, time was too critical to leave this to her brain alone.

"Of course, Commander."

She was up to her elbows in wiring, listing to EDI's patient instructions when the building rumbled around her and the open channel connecting her to Garrus and Kaidan went silent.

"Kaidan? Garrus?" she said, pausing in her work. "What was that?"

Silence.

Fighting a rising sense of panic, she tried again. "Guys, don't leave me hanging here…"

"Sorry, Shepard," Kaidan's voice came and she blew out a breath in relief, turning back to her wires as his voice continued. "Someone just suicide bombed a ship into the Reaper—a huge explosion; whoever it was must have jury-rigged the drive core. It didn't stop the Reaper but its shields are wavering—at least that's what it looks like from here. How soon can you have the artillery up?"

"Almost there," she grunted, scowling at the panel.

"Commander!" Vega's voice came over the comm. "That turian—Corporal Tallon—she just hijacked a ship and kamikazed the Reaper! We were helping some civilians and she just disappeared. I didn't see what she was doing until it was too late."

Shepard sucked in a breath as Garrus swore viciously over the channel.

In that moment, the panel lit up. "Got it!" Shepard shouted in triumph. She hurriedly closed up the wires and activated power on the main system—it would need a few moments to warm up, but the cannon was on.

A noise on the right made her whip around. Two husks came shambling toward her, screeching in that creepy, open-mouth way that always sent a chill down her spine. She fumbled for her gun, but the husk was on her before she could get it and her helmet was on the ground. The first swipe knocked the gun from her; the second had her seeing stars. She reached up a hand to wipe blood trickling down into her eyes. Swinging her free hand, she managed to knock one of the husks back, one of its mandibles hanging loose on its jaw. The other advanced, claws gleaming. Shepard cursed under her breath. There was no room to maneuver here—she couldn't get enough space for a mnemonic.

The husk loomed over her. Then it was falling to the ground. The other that she'd knocked back disintegrated into a mush of gray paste as a shotgun went off at point blank range. Ashley stood behind the fallen husks, a disgusted look on her face visible through her helmet's visor as she kicked the bodies aside.

"Ash! What are you…" Shepard winced as Ashley hauled her to her feet. "What are you doing here?"

In answer she pulled off her helmet, revealing her usual regulation bun, but something white was poking through the strands of hair. Ash pulled her hair band loose and Shepard saw it: a bald batch had been shaved from the top of her head. A white bandage covered most of it.

"That salarian—Mordin, right?—had an idea after you left," Ash said, hooking her shotgun back in its place at the small of her back. "Something about an override chip. I didn't really understand all the mumbo-jumbo, but the long and short of it is that the Cerberus chips are permanently disabled by this new thing he put in there."

Shepard winced as Ash used two fingers to smear medi-gel over the torn flesh on her head from where the husk had gotten her earlier. "You're on the ground fighting after _brain _surgery?"

"Nah, nothing that fancy." Ash said, putting away her tube of medi-gel. "Well, I mean, I suppose it _was_ brain surgery technically speaking, but it was only this one area and I was only woozy for about half an hour. This isn't 2110, Shepard. Brain surgery isn't such a big deal anymore." She grinned and popped a heat sink from her shotgun.

Shepard shook her head. "You shouldn't be here, Ash—"

"Skipper, I need to be here. I need to be able to _do_ something other than lay in that bed."

Before Shepard could say anything further, a door burst open down the corridor and a troop of heavily armored troops moved through, rifles at the ready. Shepard turned toward them, ready to hail them as backup when she saw the gold Cerberus logo gleaming on their chests.

"There she is!" One of the troops shouted, pointing at Shepard.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Ashley and Shepard dove to cover as bullets peppered the air where they had just been standing. "Kaidan! Garrus!" Shepard shouted into her earpiece as she peered around the corner and popped off a few rounds. "Williams and I have been cornered by Cerberus troops. Are you able to assist?"

"Ashley?" Garrus questioned. "What's she doing off the ship?"

Shepard brought up a biotic barrier, wincing as the metal wall beside her head dented from bullet impacts. "We'll discuss it later! Can you assist?"

"On our way, Commander," Kaidan said. "Hang tight."

"We can't stay here," Shepard said to Ashley over her shoulder, firing off a few more rounds. "We're trapped unless we make a break for it." She gestured at the door that led outside.

Ashley nodded. "I'm right behind you."

Shepard pulled a flashbang grenade from her hip and armed it. She popped around the corner, heaving a warp toward one of the Cerberus commandos in cover, tossing the flashbang grenade in after it. Under the cover of the explosion and the ensuing flash, Shepard and Ashley dashed toward the door. They set their backs to the frame as bullets sprayed past them. Outside, nothing seemed to have changed. Rubble still burned and overhead, fighters screamed toward the Reaper.

Ashley readied her sidearm and glanced at Shepard. "Reapers and now Cerberus? Skipper, maybe I'm being too obvious, but this stinks."

Shepard nodded. "First you and now Cerberus troops just _happen_ to find me on a world being attacked by Reapers? They knew about this. They _wanted_ me to be here."

A grim expression crossed Ashley's face. "Which means they also wanted _me_ here." She leaned around the corner, letting off a few shots. "Bastards. Soon as we get back to the _Normandy, _I'm letting that salarian cut my head open and scoop the rest of Cerberus out of me. I feel… dirty."

Shepard knew how she felt. When she'd found out that it was Cerberus who brought her back, she'd wanted to vomit. Shepard leaned around the corner and shot several rounds into one of the commandos; the inferno rounds piercing his shields. The trooper went down with a scream; Shepard ducked back against her wall, ejecting a heat sink.

"Shepard, are you alright?" Kaidan's voice came over her earpiece. "Can you hold your position?"

"We're still outnumbered, but we're okay for now. What's going on?" she asked, watching as Ashley shot off a few rounds at the incoming Cerberus troops.

"Garrus and I took care of the husks and were on our way to your position to assist when a group of civilians came out of nowhere—they'd just dug themselves out of some rubble." Kaidan's voice sounded strained. "Shepard, they have children and injured with them."

"Don't worry about us, Kaidan," Shepard said. "We're in a better position now to hold them off than we were before. Escort the civilians to the spaceport and get back to us as soon as you can."

"Roger that, Commander," replied Kaidan. "And, uh, Shepard? Be careful."

"You too," she said softly, and closed the channel. "Ash, we're on our own for now. Kaidan and Garrus are helping some civilians."

Ash grunted. "You and me against superior forces? Just like old times, Skipper."

"We need to draw them away from the cannon," Shepard decided, gesturing to the surrounding area. "I don't want to risk our shooting blowing the panels apart again. EDI, how long until the cannon can fire?"

"Approximately twenty minutes."

"Would even Cerberus sabotage a weapon used against the Reapers?" Ashley glanced over at her.

"I don't think so. I hope not. We have enough problems as it is without Cerberus helping the Reapers as well." Shepard readied herself. "We'll run over there—" She gestured at a faint path through the rubble. "I came that way; there should be space for cover from the commandos and it'll be far enough away from the cannon. You go first. I'll follow and cover your back. Ready?"

Ashley nodded. "On your mark."

Shepard waited for a break in the shooting from the commandos in the building then activated her biotic barrier. "Go!" She shouted, leaping in front of the entrance. The Cerberus commandos inside ducked, apparently expecting another grenade, giving Ashley ample time to high-tail it away from the anti-aircraft battery to the relative safety of the rubble. Shepard followed a moment later, feeling the ping of a few bullets, but her shields held steady. In fact it was rather strange… why weren't they following?

A heavy _thump_ vibrated the ground under her feet as she ran, and she stumbled. Ashley called out in alarm as the whir of gears and a low electronic voice grumbled through the air: "_Target acquired_."

"Skipper! Stay away!" Ashley shouted over their channel. "They dropped a YMIR mech!"

"Ash!" Shepard sprinted toward Ashley's suit transponder, unclipping the arc projector from her back. She arrived just in time to see the giant mech pepper Ashley with bullets and her armored body collapsed to the ground. Shepard fired the arc projector. The current arced over the mech, making it shudder, but she didn't give it time to recover, firing again and again until her HUD showed that the thing's shields were fried. She unclipped her shotgun, unloading round after round of armor-piercing bullets into the mech's thick armor. Its round head swung her direction, but one more round and it fell over, servos whining in protest. The lights on its head blinked, then faded out.

Shepard raced to where Ashley was slumped over. When she saw blood pouring from multiple wounds in Ashley's armor, she felt her breath stop in her throat.

Ash looked up at her, a smile trembling on her mouth. "Just… like old times, Skipper."

"Don't talk; don't _move," _Shepard ordered, yanking her tube of medi-gel open and plugging the first bloody hole in Ashley's armor. The clear medi-gel turned cloudy as it sealed the wound.

"Kaidan! Garrus! Ashley's been hit! I need you here, now!" She shouted into her earpiece. This was her fault—she shouldn't have ordered Ashley to run to an unknown location. Shepard had the superior armor—she should have scouted it out, she should have—

"Hey, now. I didn't come back from the dead just so you could blame yourself all over again." Ashley's eyes were bright with pain, but the hand she put on Shepard's arm was steady. Shepard realized she must have been speaking out loud and shook her head.

Shepard met her eyes. "I just got you back, Ash. You're not leaving again."

"S'what happens to us all, Skipper," Ashley's words were slurred. "You an' me? We came back. Not natural. But I figure, if God let us come back, there's gotta be something left for us to do."

"Then you can't die on me here," Shepard said fiercely, still smearing medi-gel on Ashley's wounds. "You haven't done anything but lay around. There's something left you have to do."

Ashley laughed and winced in pain.

"And what about me, huh? What's my purpose?" Shepard spoke randomly, just trying to keep Ashley talking and not dying.

"That's an easy one." Ashley stiffened in pain as Shepard sealed another bullet hole. "Yours is to save the galaxy and make ridiculously good-looking babies with Alenko. Mine? Well, maybe… maybe it was just to remind you not to sweat the small stuff." Ashley caught Shepard's eye again. "You gotta let it go, Skipper. It was three years and two lifetimes ago."

"Do you..." Shepard cleared her throat. "What do you remember about Virmire?"

"I remember telling you to get your ass out of there." Ashley smiled weakly. "Looks like you obeyed orders."

"What else do you remember? After that, I mean."

"A bullet going through my shields then… nothing. That was the shockwave I guess."

"And…" Shepard swallowed. "And after that?"

Ashley looked at her, silent for a moment. "I was with my dad," she said softly. "On a rolling field of the greenest grass you can imagine… under a swift sunrise. It was like when you scrub down your sidearm that's been encrusted with all kinds of muck, and the grime suddenly washes away, revealing black steel beneath. The slime of the world just… dissolved and everything was right."

Shepard inhaled sharply. "You remember that?"

Ashley's eyes went distant behind her helmet. "It feels more like a dream now… but yeah, I remember it."

"I don't remember anything," Shepard said, swiping the back of her wrist over her forehead. "It felt like waking up after a bad dream. One minute I'm flying through the void, the _Normandy_ exploding behind me, the next I'm opening my eyes in a medical bay. It wasn't even until I'd finally found someone to talk to in that station that I realized what had happened and how much time had passed."

Ashley's eyes met hers again. "It's there, Skipper," she said hoarsely. "I'll save a spot for you on the beach."

"Ash! Don't you dare—" Shepard squeezed Ashley's hand, blood and medi-gel smeared over her fingers. "Don't you leave me."

"This how I would rather go, Skipper. Rather than lying in a hospital somewhere."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Shepard held Ashley's gaze, heart pounding in her throat.

_Virmire's sun blazed down on her armor; she was sweating even with the most advanced cooling system her armor had to offer. The planet was beautiful—sandy beaches, blue sky, yet Shepard felt her decision weighing her down like a krogan on her shoulders. Then, Ashley's clear, strong voice in her ear: "I don't regret a thing, Commander._"

Shepard's HUD pinged at her, and she cursed. The Cerberus commandos were edging up on their position. She hurriedly plugged the last bullet hole that she could see on Ashley's torso. "Stay down."

Ash grimaced. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere soon."

Shepard edged around the rubble, mentally going over her options. She couldn't stay behind cover for long. The commandos would just keep pressing forward, using their superior numbers to their advantage. Unclipping the arc projector, she edged forward, peering over the rubble and checking her HUD. Three at two o'clock and the other two at nine. This would be tricky.

She set the arc projector down beside her and unclipped her sidearm. She fired over their heads, deliberately missing, hoping that they would take the bait. They did.

The three clustered troops advanced in a classic attack pattern that she recognized: these were former Alliance soldiers. Scowling, she charged up the arc projector and let it rip. The current cascaded over their bodies, though with their shields, it would only slow them down temporarily. Inhaling sharply, Shepard biotically lifted a large piece of rubble and _pushed_ it at the struggling commandos. They screamed as they were knocked aside. That was three down.

She paid for her few seconds of exposure, however. The other two remaining Cerberus troops took the open target she provided, whittling away at her shields until only a sliver remained. A bullet hit her shoulder and she hissed in pain, ducking back behind cover as her shield's warning alarms blared in her ear. Her armor's medi-gel dispenser kicked in, dulling the pain and stopping any potential blood loss, but she'd need to attend to the wound sooner rather than later. And Ashley still needed help.

Gritting her teeth, Shepard readied her sidearm. She only had two heat sinks left.

The Cerberus red dots on her HUD suddenly disappeared, replaced by two blue ones: friendlies.

"Shepard," Kaidan's voice came over her earpiece. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Shepard said in relief. "But Ash…"

"We're coming," Garrus said and soon she saw their armored forms hurrying toward her. She led them to Ashley, still laying where she left her.

"Still playing doctor, Alenko?" she said with a wan smile as Kaidan leaned down, inspecting Shepard's field medicine.

"Only to marines who should know better than to let themselves be turned into Swiss cheese an hour after brain surgery," he said in a grim voice. "Pressly would eat you alive for this, Williams."

"I'll do 100 chin-ups when we get back, sir."

"Not if Chakwas has anything to say about it," Garrus rumbled, his mandibles flaring in a turian grin.

Kaidan looked up at Shepard. "You stopped the worst of the bleeding, but Ashley will need surgery to repair the internal damage. She's probably hemorrhaging. We need to get her to the _Normandy_, Shepard."

"Artillery at 100 percent power," EDI's calm voice spoke in her ear. They all looked up as the anti-aircraft cannon swiveled to point at the Reaper, the ground shaking as it boomed its first shot.

"Commander, the Migrant Fleet has arrived in the system," the AI said again. "Admiral Tali'Zorah is preparing to initiate the Rael'Zorah Protocol."

"Good." Shepard blew out a breath in relief.

In that moment, Ashley slumped over. Her skin had gone ashen gray. Kaidan bent over her and his omni-tool blared an alarm. "Shepard, her blood pressure is dropping. We need to get her to the _Normandy, _now!"

Shepard tapped her earpiece, mouth dry with worry. "Vega, get the shuttle and lock onto my position. On the double!"

"Roger that, Commander," he replied. "On my way."

Shepard watched and waited, helpless while Kaidan did what he could—which wasn't much. Above them, small, agile quarian fighters were zooming into atmosphere toward the Reaper. They would probably die, but they had to get close to establish a link to the Reaper for the Rael'Zorah Protocol to work. The Protocol was the result of Tali's father's experiments on geth during the Collector crisis. With some help from Legion, the young quarian managed to turn it into a weapon to use, not against the geth still occupying the quarian homeworld, but against Reapers whose shielding capabilities were the main barrier to their destruction. Turn off their shields and Reapers could be destroyed just like any other ship. It was the getting there that paid so dearly.

The _Normandy'_s shuttle arrived. Shepard helped Kaidan carry Ashley inside. "I'll go with her; make sure she's okay." He reached out, grabbing Shepard's hand. "I'll come back when she's with Chakwas."

Shepard shook herself, tearing her gaze away from Ashley who was no longer laughing about her wounds but still and pale. "No. It's okay. I have Vega and Garrus. Do what you need to. I'll see you—both of you—soon."

Kaidan searched her gaze a moment and then nodded. He glanced to the side, but no one was watching them, so he reached out, pulling Shepard forward for a quick, hard kiss. "It'll be okay," he said and she knew he wasn't just talking about Ashley.

She nodded and stepped out of the shuttle. A moment later it was gone, flying back to space. She put her helmet back on and gestured to Vega and Garrus. "Let's go gentlemen." She spared one more glance for the shuttle, now nearly a speck in the sky. That fight was out of her hands now, and she reminded herself that there was still a battle to win down here.

#

Hours later—or was it days? Weeks?—Shepard limped onto the shuttle, Vega and Garrus on her heels. Her HUD was flaring warning lights at her—no medi-gel, no shields, permanent damage to the left gauntlet, and her shoulder wound hurt like molten lead had been poured into it—but she ignored them all for now. The Reapers—at least the two on Taetrus—were destroyed. The Rael'Zorah Protocol had worked. But the cost had been dear. Hospital ships had arrived in system shortly after the Migrant Fleet to triage incoming wounded and to transport the less severely injured and other survivors to another turian world. Taetrus would never be the same. Shepard knew that among the survivors, many would die from eezo poisoning from multiple ship drive cores detonating in atmosphere. If any pregnant women had survived, their unborn children might likely become biotics… or they might die from cancer. Other survivors might never recover from their injuries, and the few that were uninjured might have crippling psychological problems from the trauma they witnessed.

She did her best not to dwell on those facts, trying instead to remember that two more Reapers were dead and that meant that the galaxy was fighting, that they had a chance at surviving this calculated, mechanical genocide.

But for now they had won some breathing room. At least she hoped. The Reapers always seemed to hold back after one of their attacks was foiled. Mordin had speculated that it was a response to a new stimuli: when their tactic didn't work, they pulled back as if to analyze their errors and eliminate them. Or maybe they expended a lot of energy to travel and needed to rest between battles. Of course, it was all speculation. The Reapers were not exactly forthcoming with the details of their plans. Whatever the reason, Shepard would be glad for a breather, if only because it gave them more time to prepare for the next attack.

Kaidan had not come back from the _Normandy _after he'd left with Ashley. Whether that was a good or bad sign, she couldn't decide. But she was so exhausted that her worries only registered dimly instead of pounding away at her like they usually did.

The shuttle arrived in the _Normandy_ cargo bay without issue. Shepard stepped out, wearily wondering if she should grab a shower before checking in with Dr. Chakwas. She knew she smelled horrible—sweat, gun oil, husk slime, and who knew what else.

As she, Vega, and Garrus waited on the elevator, she decided to take a shower, a quick one, if only for sanitary reasons. She'd been in worse shape before; her shoulder could wait a few more minutes.

The elevator pinged, opening to reveal Kaidan. His eyes came to rest on her. He wasn't smiling.

"Shepard," he said, swallowing. "Ashley… Ashley didn't make it through surgery."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry. :(  
><strong>


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Dimly, Shepard heard Garrus make a low, mournful warble—the kind of noise a translator didn't know what to do with.

Shepard didn't say anything. In a dim part of her mind, she recognized what had happened. She was still on a battlefield; she couldn't let herself think or _feel_ yet. She could only do what she needed to do. After a moment, she climbed onto the elevator.

Kaidan put his hand out to stop the elevator door from closing. "Shepard, didn't you hear me? Ashley's gone; she… died."

"I heard you," Shepard said in a calm voice. "But I need to take a shower now. I'm filthy. Please step back."

He did so, shock and pain registering on his face. She felt those too, distant, like taps of rain against a window. A memory, short and dagger sharp, pierced through her cloudy thoughts.

_Rain pattered against their home, pelting the top of the pre-fab colonial housing like hundreds of tiny dancing feet. Her breath steamed against the window. Behind her, the unlikely combination of scents ranging from fertilizer to fresh-baked cookies wafted through the air. Mom had brought some of her soil samples in from the lab. The cookies were dessert._

"_Mom, can I go outside?"_

"_Not today, sweetie. It's raining."_

"_But I want to go outside!"_

"_It's not safe out, yet. When the storm passes, then you can go outside."_

Shepard blinked and found herself standing in front of her cabin door. She palmed the release and walked in, mechanically removing her armor. Only then did she realize then that she should have stopped at the armory since it would need repaired. Oh well. At least she could have it cleaned. In her underarmor, a thin gray bodysuit, she pressed the pieces of her armor into their slots and set the cleaning cycle on high.

She peeled off her underamor, hissing with pain as the cloth pulled away from her shoulder wound. Next, she removed the N7 tank top she always wore, and her underthings, throwing them all into the laundry chute. After a moment of calm, deliberate consideration, she set out clean clothes on the bed—underwear and a freshly pressed officer's uniform. Hackett would want an update about the battle as soon as possible and she needed to look the part of a victorious war hero.

"_And what about me, huh? What's my purpose?" _

"_That's an easy one. Yours is to save the galaxy and make ridiculously good-looking babies with Alenko. Mine? Well, maybe… maybe it was just to remind you not to sweat the small stuff." _

Shepard stumbled on her way to the shower. She turned it on, cranking the heat up higher than she normally did. It stung at first, but soothing steam soon filled the small bathroom. Shepard leaned her forehead against the cool wall, letting the water hit the back of her head. She swallowed deeply as something clawed at the back of her throat, something that if released might sound like a scream.

"_You gotta let it go, Skipper."_

"Ash…" Shepard choked and the tears finally came, mingling with the shower water that ran down her face.

#

Kaidan found her there twenty minutes later. He'd volunteered to check on her since Chakwas had her hands full with wounded among the crew. He fingered the OSD in his pocket and walked into the cabin. She wasn't within that he could see, though he noticed the clothes laid out on the bed and lights blinking on the armor locker along the wall.

"I'm in here," came her voice from behind him.

He walked to the bathroom door, a little startled when it opened to reveal Shepard. She was naked and sitting on the floor with knees drawn up to her chest and water streaming down on her. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Hey," he said a little lamely. "You okay?"

She rested her chin on her knees. "No. Not yet. But I will be." She huffed something that might have been a laugh. "I seem to say that a lot these days."

Kaidan watched her for a moment, then reached in and turned the shower off. "Crew's worried about you, Shepard."

"Of course," she sighed, running a hand through her waterlogged hair. "Shepard Almighty, to the rescue."

"No, it's not like that," he insisted, shaking his head. "They're worried about _you_. They want to know that _you're_ okay." Since she still wasn't moving, he walked over to the small linen closet and withdrew a towel, walking back over to hand it to her.

"There wasn't anything Chakwas could do," Kaidan said quietly as she stood and took the towel from him, burying her face in it. "Between the cancer and the multiple bullet wounds, her body was just under too much stress."

Shepard sniffed and emerged from the towel, eyes watery as she wrapped it around herself. "Yeah. It's just… I started to believe that it was a second chance, you know? That Virmire could be washed away because she wasn't dead, and I didn't mess up and she would be alive to see Sarah graduate…" Her face grew haunted. "When Ashley was around, I started to remember what it felt like to have family…"

Kaidan felt a pang of sympathetic pain. It was easy to forget that Shepard hadn't had a family since she was a teenager, but as scarred over as the wound might be, it was undoubtedly still tender when touched. He remembered Ashley and Shepard on off duty hours during the hunt for Saren; they'd been as close as sisters, laughing and talking as if the barrier of rank didn't exist. After Virmire, she'd withdrawn so completely into her professional soldier shell that Kaidan wondered if Shepard the woman had disappeared completely under the weight of duty and regret.

She blew out a breath. "Sorry. I'll be fine." She cleared her throat, her voice stronger. "I'll be fine." She started to walk by him toward her clothes on the bed. He caught her arm as she walked past.

"You're not alone, Shepard," he said in a low voice. "Don't ever believe that for a minute."

She met his eyes and suddenly he was very aware that they were alone and only a towel separated them. He dragged his eyes up to her face and reached into his pocket for the OSD. "Here, she left his for you." He set it on the desk. "Let me know if I can do anything, Shepard. I mean it." He glanced down at her bare shoulder, noticing for the first time the trickle of blood oozing from a bullet wound, and sucked in a breath. "You're wounded."

"It's nothing. Medi-gel must be wearing off," she said, looking down at her shoulder as if she'd forgotten about it. "There are people who need Chakwas more than me—"

"Stop that," Kaidan said, giving her arm a little shake, making her look up at him with wide eyes. "We need you, Shepard. _I_ need you. Don't forget that."

Her throat worked for a moment then she nodded, eyes bright.

"Get some clothes on while I find the first aid kit," he ordered gently. "You could go into shock from blood loss if you're not careful."

"It's in the bathroom, under the sink," Shepard supplied, walking toward the clothes she had laid out on the bed.

Kaidan entered the small bathroom and unclipped the kit from its hiding spot. He opened it, checking its contents to make sure it had all he needed. By the time he walked out Shepard had got into her undergarments, though the injury was at last appearing to affect her: her skin was pale, and she had that tight look about her face, as if holding the pain at bay by sheer willpower.

Kaidan scanned the wound with his omni-tool, checking for the bullet or bullet fragments. As he'd suspected, it had passed cleanly through the soft tissue in her shoulder, narrowly missing a bone. If the bullet had been left behind, he would have dragged her down to the med-bay himself to dig it out. But it wasn't, and Kaidan set to patching her up. She was a good patient: sitting still and not twisting away, even when he cleaned the wound with antiseptic. Medi-gel applied directly to both sides of the wound ended the process. He watched the medi-gel grow cloudy to make sure it sealed correctly and closed the first aid kit.

"Done," he said, wiping his fingers on the towel. "Chakwas should look it over after a day or two, but right now, what you need is rest."

"Yeah. I'll do that after I report to Hackett." She shifted, moving her hand atop his on the bed, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "Thanks, Kaidan. I'll see you in the briefing room?"

He looked at their hands and cleared his throat. "Yeah. See you there."

#

The door to her cabin shut behind Kaidan. Shepard stared at the OSD he left behind, took a deep breath, and plugged it into her terminal. Instantly, Ashley's face flickered into view on the screen. She was looking at someone out of frame.

"…_Thanks Dr. Chakwas." _She turned back to the camera, frowning, her fingers moving slightly at the bottom of the screen and the picture cleared. _"Hey Commander. If you're getting this, then I've died. Again." _She frowned suddenly, as if concentrating. "_Sorry for anything weird I might say. I just woke up from the surgery to implant a new chip in my head. The salarian—what was his name, Dr. Soling?—anyway, he said it should control the other chips without you needing to constantly toss an overload at me. The drugs are still siphoning out of my system so I'm a little woozy." _She grinned suddenly, and Shepard felt her heart twist in pain. _"My plan – once the world stops spinning – is to find some armor and take that sweet-looking Hammerhead thing down to Taetrus to join the fight. Hope you left some for me, Skipper. Anyway, you know I'm never one for mushy stuff. But if I have died, I know you're probably blaming yourself. Again. And, really, you need to stop that. I'm a marine, born and bred. I knew death was in the contract soon as I signed up and if I died helping you, which means I died helping to defeat the Reapers, then that's a hell of a send-off that most soldiers never get." _

Ashley fussed with the camera again. "_I told you back then that I had no regrets, and it's still true." _Ashley looked distant for a moment, then focused back on the camera. "_One other thing. This chip that the salarian gave me? It's bringing back some… memories. Orders, really, that the other chips were receiving. "_ Her face scrunched up as if she tasted something sour. "_It's a really weird feeling because they feel like my thoughts even though I know they aren't. Anyway, Cerberus's original plan was for me to infiltrate your squad. What they wanted from there, I don't know. Probably kill you in some public place for optimum press coverage. They only ordered me to kill you in the Citadel once it became clear that Alenko wasn't going to let his suspicions go." _She shrugged. "_That's all I know about that at any rate. _

"_This is my last message. Say goodbye to Alenko, Vakarian, and Chakwas for me. I only recorded one other for Joker at the end of this one and you're not allowed to view it. Got that?" _She scowled at the camera. "_It's corny, but you never did mind my poetry. So here's one of my favorites. Been saving it for something like this."_ She sat back and said in a clear, strong voice:

_Sunset and evening star, _

_And one clear call for me! _

_And may there be no moaning of the bar, _

_When I put out to sea, _

_But such a tide as moving seems asleep, _

_Too full for sound and foam, _

_When that which drew from out the boundless deep _

_Turns again home. _

_Twilight and evening bell, _

_And after that the dark! _

_And may there be no sadness of farewell, _

_When I embark; _

_For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place _

_The flood may bear me far, _

_I hope to see my Pilot face to face _

_When I have crost the bar. _

Ashley smiled at the camera. "_So long, Shepard. See you on the other side._" The screen went dark.

Shepard sat for a moment at the desk, her hair starting to dry. The pain in her shoulder had receded to a dull ache by now.

Then, the screen lit up again. Ashley peered at the camera. "_This is the beginning of Joker's message, so if you're still watching, Skipper, scram or I will come back to haunt you."_

Shepard laughed out loud, the sound loosening something tight in her chest. She turned off the recording and finished getting dressed, combing her fingers through her hair. It was getting too long; she needed to have Rupert give it a trim.

In the CIC, she nodded at her crew, paused beside a few, talked with them, took care of some minor shipboard business, and continued on until she was at the helm. Joker didn't turn around; didn't even acknowledge she was there.

"This is for you. From her," she said softly, dropping the OSD into Joker's hand. She rested a hand on his shoulder, feeling him twitch beneath her fingers. "Feel free to watch mine, if you like, but yours starts at three minutes." She paused, then added with a smile. "I was under strict orders not to watch it, so I didn't."

Joker's eyes flicked up to hers then down at the OSD. His fingers closed over it and he nodded, clearing his throat. "Thanks, Shepard."

Shepard nodded and walked back through the CIC. Kaidan lifted his eyes from his workstation. She smiled slightly at him, and he looked relieved. He walked over to her. "Hackett's ready for us."

"Let's go then." She said, smiling and they walked together, hands brushing, sending little sparks thrumming through her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Poem is "Crossing the Bar" by Alfred Lord Tennyson; written in 1889. I've used it in another Ashley fic, so you might recognize it if you've read anything else on my profile. Props to TheOddLittleTurtle for bringing this poem to my attention!**

**One more chapter to go; more of an epilogue, really, except that it's as long as a chapter.  
><strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Ashley's body presented something of a problem. In ordinary circumstances they would have sent Ashley's remains to her mother and sisters on Amaterasu, but as they weren't aware that she had been alive, that wasn't an option. Ashley had made it clear that she didn't want her family to know what happened. Shepard and Chakwas had been discussing options when Joker presented an idea: send her out to sea—figuratively speaking—into Amaterasu's sun. That way Shepard kept her promise to Ashley, but she would still be close to her family.

There wasn't a formal service, though the crew that had known Ashley gathered in the cargo bay to say their final farewells. Shepard didn't say anything; all she could remember was Ashley's first funeral—how she'd pressed the folded Alliance flag into Mrs. Williams' waiting arms. How Ashley's sisters cried, turning to each other for comfort… how Shepard stood alone in her dress blues, joined to the Williams family in their sorrow but separate because of rank and duty. Kaidan had joined her then, his gaze shadowed by the brim of his hat, but his presence warming her.

Shepard laid a hand on the casket for a moment and stepped back. The small company of mourners watched as the casket slipped out of the cargo bay and sailed through space toward the star. Taps began to play over the loudspeakers.

Kaidan stepped up beside her. "You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she answered, surprised to find that it was true. "I am."

The crew soon scattered to their various tasks. Shepard and Kaidan were the last ones standing in the cargo bay, though the casket was a mere speck against the sun by now.

"Shepard?"

"Mm?"

"Andie."

She turned to look at Kaidan in surprise. He'd never called her by her first name before. No one did these days.

"I have to ask," he continued, still looking out at space and then back at her. "Why weren't you more upset with me? When I first came on board, I mean. I came onto this ship expecting and deserving the cold shoulder, but you're…" he trailed off, "you're acting like we were never apart."

She shrugged. "Well, to my perspective, we weren't." She paused, gathering her thoughts, and he waited.

"I had a lot of time to think while I was in the brig," she said, staring at the closed cargo bay doors, but not really seeing them. "A lot of time to think about things I did, things I didn't do; things I wanted to do… " Shepard turned to face him. "On Horizon I was just so relieved that you were alive, that I didn't have any room for anger or hurt. Later, yeah, I was hurt that you didn't trust me, but I would have acted the same way if our roles had been reversed. And when I was sitting in that cell, knowing that execution was probably in my future, I realized that any pain I'd had from Horizon had long since faded. I wanted to—_decided_ to think of what I still felt and what I would fight for if I was given a second chance." She smiled, reaching for his hands, curling her fingers around his. "To be honest, it all seems petty given what's going on right now in the galaxy." She gazed at him, her eyes suddenly fierce. "But I have something to fight for other than the nameless billions, Kaidan. You. _Us_." The fierceness faded replaced by uncertainty and she started to pull away. "That is, if you want me to."

Kaidan grabbed her hands before she could pull away completely and, keeping eye contact with her, lifted one of her hands to the base of his skull to rest on his amp socket. Most biotics were sensitive about their amps. Human biotics had the implant surgery as teenagers, and the painful recovery was often the worst part. Kaidan well remembered feeling dizzy and nauseated for weeks on end, not to mention the onset of his splitting migraines that kept him out of commission for hours. In training, biotics were taught to protect their amps—they wouldn't be hurt if one was taken out in a close-quarters battle, but it was their last protection. An ampless biotic was vulnerable; weakened.

As a result, most biotics didn't allow anyone except trusted medical personnel to even be near an amp. For Kaidan to physically let Shepard touch his was one of the most daring acts of trust he could think of.

Her eyes widened as she understood—and she would too, being a biotic herself. He leaned in, resting his forehead to hers. Almost without thought, he flared, feeling the buzz of her fingertips against his amp as he did so. Shepard flared as well, and their coronas sizzled against each other for a brief, prickling second before they quieted, feeding off each other in a gentle rhythm as natural as a heartbeat.

"I—" Kaidan started to say, but a chorus of laughter entering the cargo bay broke them apart. They'd lingered too long and the crew was going back to work. Shepard huffed out a breath and caught Kaidan's eye. He wasn't looking at her anymore, his face calm—a soldier once again.

"I should be making rounds," she said after an awkward pause. He nodded, unable to say more as a crewmember came up with a salute and a datapad, and she left.

#

She'd intended to work, but first Shepard made her way to the helm. Joker had stood separate from everyone else at the memorial and was among the first to leave. Shepard stood behind the chair, watching the display as the _Normandy_ sped away from Amaterasu's sun, toward the system's mass relay. The last lonesome note of Taps still seemed to echo in her ears.

Shepard shifted, removing her officer's cover that she'd worn for the memorial, and glanced down at Joker. "You good?"

"Never better, Commander," he said without missing a beat. She squeezed his shoulder gently and left the pilot to his thoughts.

She spoke to the glowing blue globe beside the pilot's chair before she left. "EDI, I have some work to finish. If anyone needs me I'll be in my cabin."

"Very well, Shepard."

#

Kaidan logged the last of the containers in the cargo hold on a datapad and sent it away with a crewmember waiting for instructions. He rolled his neck, working out a crick starting to form, and his eyes fell on the platform where Shepard had practiced the biotic descent.

Shepard.

He smiled, feeling that little flare of warmth that seemed to spring into existence whenever he thought about her. They'd been through so much and yet she still wanted to be with him—she wanted to _fight_ for him; for _them_. The thought humbled and excited him at the same time. He wished they'd had more time after Ashley's funeral, but maybe it hadn't been the right time…

Kaidan absently walked over to the loading elevator next to the platform and rode it up. Some crates of supplies were stored there now, but there was still enough room to look out over the edge and remember her laughing face as he biotically pulled her in, careful not to hurt or drop her.

He stilled, looking down at the distant floor of the cargo hold. Caution, leaving a way out, holding back, being "safe"… those mantras had pretty much been his life since BAaT. They had served him well over the years—ensuring him a place of respect among humans who were unsure about biotics, giving him the temperament to advance through the ranks of the Alliance with relative ease, and, more recently, gaining the Council's approval for another human Spectre.

When was the last time he'd thrown the rulebook out the airlock? When was the last time he'd forgotten about being safe and simply _lived_?

The answer was obvious: _Ilos._ Granted, he hadn't… expected the evening that would follow: he'd gone to Shepard's cabin merely wanting to let her know how he felt before a mission that might kill them all. If he'd hoped for more, he'd locked it down until the first taste of her mouth unleashed all the pent-up feelings he'd stored away ever since he saw her walking onto the _Normandy_ for the first time.

Now they were on the verge of extinction by giant sentient machines that had a personal vendetta against Shepard. He'd lost her once above Alchera; he'd nearly lost her again on Horizon, and if Ashley hadn't been on Taetrus, Shepard might not have come back with only one bullet wound.

_And here I am standing in the cargo bay like an idiot_. He smiled wryly to himself; he could almost hear Ashley's exasperation.

Kaidan allowed himself to flare, his biotic corona enveloping him like a second skin. There was a time and a place for caution and reservation… but now was a time for _doing_ something. Kaidan walked to the edge of the platform and jumped.

#

Shepard finished typing her reply to the turian Primarchs on the battle on Taetrus, adding Anderson and Hackett to the recipients as well. She sat back, rubbing her eyes. They felt dry; gritty. Then again, she'd been writing emails and finishing paperwork for hours now. The _Normandy_ would have to stop at the Citadel soon, too. Anderson had news he didn't want to share even over encrypted channels. She suspected that he was at last throwing off his political chains and joining her team, but she would play the part with enthusiastic surprise. She'd already talked to Gardner and Miranda about finding room for the Admiral aboard ship. If it meant giving up her little space here in the loft… well, she could do that too. She owed Anderson too much.

She would have to tell him about Ashley, and she was not looking forward to it. Sitting at her desk, she fiddled with a few ideas on how to approach the topic. She had intended to let him know as soon as she'd set eyes on Ashley, but things had happened so quickly, there hadn't been opportunity. Idly, she drummed her fingers on the desk in thought.

"Commander Shepard," EDI popped up from her console, "Commander Alenko is requesting entry."

"Let him in." She wondered what he needed. Requisition requests? But he could talk to Miranda about that. She stood from her chair, arching her back against muscles that protested against sitting in one place too long. Kaidan might want to be with her when she told Anderson about Ashley, maybe they could…

"Kaidan," she said with a smile as the door to her cabin hissed open. "What do—" Her words were completely cut off as he took two quick strides inside and pulled her against him, his mouth crashing into hers. Caught off guard, Shepard nonetheless leaned into the kiss, feeling a delicious shiver as one hand tangled in her hair and the other wrapped tightly around her waist, the fingers tripping down her spine.

"No more," he said in a low voice, his eyes dark.

"Kaidan," Shepard gasped as his mouth trailed hot, wet kisses away from her lips and down to her neck and the sensitive skin under her ear. She was only vaguely aware of Kaidan walking them backward until the backs of her knees hit the bed. They fell, though Kaidan was careful to not to crush her, splaying his hands around her face.

"If this thing with Ashley has taught me anything, it's that I don't want to waste any more time," he said in that a velvety rumble that turned her insides to mush. He leaned down to kiss her slowly, lingering against her mouth. "I don't want to have regrets, Shepard." He pulled back to look her in the eye, cradling the side of her face, his thumb brushing aside a strand of her hair. The moment seemed to stretch, and Shepard was suddenly aware of a delicate humming between them, as if their biotics had activated simply by proximity. It felt almost like they were two stringed instruments, playing in a subtle harmony.

"Marry me," Kaidan said, startling her out of her thoughts. "Now. Today. Because if we're honest… if we put aside the grand speeches about victory we've been spouting to everyone… there might not be a tomorrow, and I don't want to spend whatever are the last few moments of my life puttering around this ship, pretending I don't love you as much as I do. I don't want to wait for discussions and maybes. I know this is something I want. I want this—_us._ I want to fight for it, with everything I have."

Shepard held his gaze, for once at a loss for words. It was pointless to ask if he was serious, she could see the tension in his body; the almost imperceptible fear of rejection in his face. She sat up, and he leaned back, allowing her to get out from under him. Resting her fingers along his jaw, Shepard looked into his eyes, seeing again the sincerity in his gaze. She kissed him gently, feeling the thunder of his pulse beneath her hands.

"Okay. I will," she breathed against him. Then she was up from the bed digging through her closet for her officer's jacket. "EDI," she called, a silly grin on her face, "set a course for the Citadel. Admiral Anderson has a wedding to perform."

Kaidan came up behind her with a laugh, circling his arms around her waist and tugging her into another kiss that left her breathless. Laughing, she extricated herself and shrugged into her officer's jacket, fastening the buttons with quick motions. Kaidan watched all this with bewilderment.

"You wanted to wait," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "and now you're giving me the opportunity to experience honeymoon sex the way it was meant to: after a wedding." The look on his face was so dumbfounded that she went to him, kissing him again. "It won't be long," she promised.

He sighed. "If you were anyone else, Shepard, I'd accuse you of playing games."

Shepard sobered. "No, I wouldn't do that. Not to you." She gripped his hands, looking at their entwined fingers. "I just..." She bit her lip. "After the memorial… I just need a little bit of time. To reflect; to grieve."

Kaidan nodded, squeezing her hands. "Yeah. I understand. I just… I didn't want to lose momentum while I had it." He chuckled nervously.

Shepard cupped the side of his face, the edges of her fingers teasing the fringe of his hair. "We're only one relay away from the Citadel. No time to lose momentum. And," she said, remembering Ashley's gift with a blush, "once we get there, I might even have something to wear for… after the wedding."

Kaidan nipped at her lower lip, kissing her until her knees turned to jelly and her resolve crumbled. She tightened her grip on his arms, but he pulled away, a dark glint in his eye. "Fine," he said, his voice almost a growl. "But we're going to have one very long night on our honeymoon. Just you and me."

Shepard smiled. "One very long night," she agreed, punctuating each word with a kiss. She stayed in the circle of his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent. Just them. The Reapers could wait a little longer.

-END-

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's it. Thanks for reading, everyone. I appreciate all the reviews and favorites. **

**I'm aware that some of the minor details are obsolete due to the demo's release (Kaidan's rank for one) but I had the story done and was already releasing chapters before the demo dropped. Once the full game has been out for awhile, I may come back to this and tweak it so that it's up to date and fits better with canon content.  
><strong>


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